Backyard War Wrestling (Cornelverse)

[arwink]

December 1st, 2005; Somewhere in Milwaukie “No old-timers.” Ben leaned forward, stabbing a stubby finger into the plastic surface of the table to emphasize his point. He had the voice down – he was known for being relatively good on the mike when he needed to be – but his attempt to look grim and serious largely came off as a half-hearted comedy act. The fact that his idea of a serious business meeting took place at a corner table of the local McDonald’s didn’t help, nor did the smear of cheeseburger grease that dotted his upper lip. “Can you give me a little more detail on that one?” I asked him. “Old-timer is kind of vague. Are we just talking about guys in their fifties, or…” Ben cut me off. “Twenty five,” he said. “I don’t want anyone over the age of twenty-five. No-one whose working with the big three, no-one whose doing their rounds with the indies. I want young wrestlers, hungry wrestlers, people who are eager to do their thing and prove that they can do it on their own.” I nodded a couple of times. “So what are we working with then?” “I’ve got a ring and some seating set up in my garage,” Ben explained. “Plus the permits are all worked out – there’s nothing illegal about it.” “Money, Ben, I was asking about money. If you want this to look like a professional operation, we’re going to need to hire someone for you to fight other than one or two of your friends. We’ll probably even need to hire a referee sooner or later.” “I’ve got twenty-thousand dollars set aside after the book sold. That’s our starting capital.” “That’s not a lot.” “Is it enough? Seriously, Winky, do you think we can do it?” If I was honest with myself, I thought he was screwed. But twenty-thousand dollars meant there was a small chance that I’d see a pay check somewhere along the line, and I could always use something to supplement my income. “Sure, we can do it,” I told him. “But the name will have to change. To be honest, Ben Williams Wrestling isn’t going to do a hell of a lot for anyone other than a small community of SF folks that read your book. Why don’t we call it Backyard War Wrestling?” “You really think that’s any better?” I shrugged. “Who knows,” I said. “But think of this way – if the whole thing tanks, you don’t have to watch your name attached to the promotion in bright, neon letters as it sinks into a pit of despair and public scorn.”

[arwink]

December 12th, 2005, My Flat We were overstocked. I’d spent a couple of days making calls, organizing things so that we had people to show up for the first show. I tried to be discerning – we only really had the space to run a few matches at best and we needed quality if we ever wanted to make it out of the garage. After a week had gone by, I had a steady list of young performers that I figured I could work with. They weren’t particularly great in the ring, but they had promise. Then I met up with Ben, and realized that he came to the table with a few non-negotiable. Wrestlers who had to be there, because he promised his friends they’d have a space in the roster. I’d seen Ben wrestle a couple of times – the only reason he was making it into the show was because he still had a little name recognition after the publicity tour for his book. His friends were, on the whole, not about to make things any better. I spent most of the day putting together a list of our wrestlers and where I saw them fitting into the company, working out their relative strengths and weaknesses. It wasn’t exactly an exercise that filled me with hope, but there were at least a few sparks of promise. [B][SIZE="2"]The BWW Roster[/SIZE][/B] [B]Main Event[/B] [B][I]Ben Williams (Face):[/I][/B] Owner, science-fiction author, relatively poor wrestler. My plan was to keep him on the announce table as long as possible, but the internet buzz surrounding our website suggested it was probably worth keeping him on a winning streak. Ben has fairly substandard brawling skills and flying skills, with just enough talent on the mat to be considered below-average. But he takes a fall well, and no-one goes through a table with the same vigour and flair as Ben does. [B][I]Des Davids (Face): [/I][/B]Des played college level football, drifting into professional wrestling after a back injury stopped him from going pro. One of Ben’s picks; apparently they’d played in the same football team in school. Des wasn’t really worth a damn in the ring, but he looked good, had a decent build, and had a passable amount of raw strength. As long as he wasn’t required to do anything more complex than a basic power-slam, he should be fine. [B][I]Flemmy Lemming (Heel):[/I][/B] Suicidal Flemmy was young, small and capable of throwing around nearly anyone on our roster with his technical prowess. If I was a betting man, I’d guess that he’s going to be the first of our roster to be poached by another company. [B][I]Leroy (Heel):[/I][/B] The East-Side Assassin was our sole heavyweight, a New York brawler who actually offered to drive himself out to Milwaukie once or twice a month when we needed him for our shows. I hired him in the hopes that he’d pair well with Ben, since Leroy could deliver the big bumps that Ben was used to taking. [B][I]Mark Smart (Face): [/I][/B]Mark is one of those kids who seems like he’s always been around the wrestling ring. He’d been running fan-sites on the net since he was thirteen, started working as a towel-boy for USPW when he was fifteen, then he started working for us. A good high-flyer, handy with a microphone, and not bad on the mat. [B][I]TJ Bailey (Heel): [/I][/B]I fought hard to get TJ onto the roster, then even harder when Ben threw a hissy-fit over TJ’s previous work as a jobber for TCW. TJ has a vaguely sub-standard all-round game, which actually puts him two steps ahead of about 60% of the roster, but he’s also got the potential to go far is we push him right and we needed someone capable of doing a decent Heel/Face turn somewhere down the track. [B]Upper Midcard[/B] [B][I]Brendan Idol (Face): [/I][/B]At twenty-four, “The Teen Dream” Brendan Idol was the oldest wrestler on our roster. Ben didn’t really want him there, since Idol had been jobbing for some of the indy promotions on the west coast, but we needed someone with Brendan’s flare and ability to work the crowd. [B][I]Decipher (Heel): [/I][/B]One of Ben’s choices; I wasn’t particularly happy to see him on the roster. Decipher bills himself as a masked luchador, but he’s a little bigger and better on the mat than you’d expect from the description. All in all he wasn’t a bad worker by the standards of our roster, but I’ve never met a wrestler who lacked the ability to make me care about a match quite like Decipher can. [B][I]Frankie Dee (Heel):[/I][/B] The first time I saw Dee, I expected him to be a high-flyer. Instead he’s a moderately competent Mat Wrestler capable of producing a couple of flashy moves thanks to his background in Judo. Unfortunately, he has all the in-ring charisma of a drunken radish. [B][I]Lion Heart (Face):[/I][/B] If you listen to Ben, Lion Heart is one of wrestling’s next big things. If you watch the tapes of his first three matches, all you tend to notice is his complete lack of understanding when it comes to selling, psychology and even basic wrestling techniques. Looks good swinging a steel chair, but has a nasty habit of splitting people open and leaving them with a concussion when he does so. [B]Midcard[/B] [B][I]Raphael (Heel): [/I][/B]One of the few guys in the promotion who will take a hit better than Ben, which probably explains why Ben’s so reluctant to let me push him. Raphael’s got the all-round skills to dominate the company after he’s got a few matches under his belt, and he understands the psychology of the game better than anyone else on our roster. [B][I]Stretch the Chicken Boy (Face):[/I][/B] Stretch is one of Ben’s cronies, an out-right weirdo that manages a decent aerial assault and the occasional match work. I had my doubts when Ben told me he was going to be holding a spot on the roster, but I was largely sold on the comedy value of his completely ineffectual finishing move – the Chicken Dancer (A Boston Crab where Stretch flaps his arms like a chicken and crows like a roster). [B]Lower Midcard[/B] [B][I]Nomad (Heel):[/I][/B] So much promise, such great charisma. It’s a pity he can’t really work the mike or put together a cohesive fighting style. Overall Nomad deserves a better push than he’s getting, especially in light of some Ben’s picks that made it into the main event. [B]Referee[/B] [B][I]Dwayne Hewett: [/I][/B]This was the downside of Ben’s hiring policy. Hewett was young, he was hungry for ref work, and he basically knew enough to count to three when the wrestler’s shoulders were on the mat. Given a choice, I probably would have picked someone else. Anyone else. But competent refs under the age of 25 are pretty rare, and most of them are already working for someone else. [B]Backstage Workers[/B] [B][I]Huey Cannonball (Face): [/I][/B]Huey was one of Ben’s best friends, the flashy high-flyer to Ben’s half-hearted mat game. Unlike Ben, Huey probably had a good chance of making it in the industry. In another company, Huey would probably be an asset. In Ben’s company, which tended to play to Ben’s strengths as a wrestler, Huey’s lack of a decent ground attack and sub-par mic skills was probably going to keep him off-stage for a while.

[arwink]

December 12th, 2005, My Flat We were overstocked. I’d spent a couple of days making calls, organizing things so that we had people to show up for the first show. I tried to be discerning – we only really had the space to run a few matches at best and we needed quality if we ever wanted to make it out of the garage. After a week had gone by, I had a steady list of young performers that I figured I could work with. They weren’t particularly great in the ring, but they had promise. Then I met up with Ben, and realized that he came to the table with a few non-negotiable. Wrestlers who had to be there, because he promised his friends they’d have a space in the roster. I’d seen Ben wrestle a couple of times – the only reason he was making it into the show was because he still had a little name recognition after the publicity tour for his book. His friends were, on the whole, not about to make things any better. I spent most of the day putting together a list of our wrestlers and where I saw them fitting into the company, working out their relative strengths and weaknesses. It wasn’t exactly an exercise that filled me with hope, but there were at least a few sparks of promise. [B][SIZE="2"]The BWW Roster[/SIZE][/B] [B]Main Event[/B] [B][I]Ben Williams (Face):[/I][/B] Owner, science-fiction author, relatively poor wrestler. My plan was to keep him on the announce table as long as possible, but the internet buzz surrounding our website suggested it was probably worth keeping him on a winning streak. Ben has fairly substandard brawling skills and flying skills, with just enough talent on the mat to be considered below-average. But he takes a fall well, and no-one goes through a table with the same vigour and flair as Ben does. [B][I]Des Davids (Face): [/I][/B]Des played college level football, drifting into professional wrestling after a back injury stopped him from going pro. One of Ben’s picks; apparently they’d played in the same football team in school. Des wasn’t really worth a damn in the ring, but he looked good, had a decent build, and had a passable amount of raw strength. As long as he wasn’t required to do anything more complex than a basic power-slam, he should be fine. [B][I]Flemmy Lemming (Heel):[/I][/B] Suicidal Flemmy was young, small and capable of throwing around nearly anyone on our roster with his technical prowess. If I was a betting man, I’d guess that he’s going to be the first of our roster to be poached by another company. [B][I]Leroy (Heel):[/I][/B] The East-Side Assassin was our sole heavyweight, a New York brawler who actually offered to drive himself out to Milwaukie once or twice a month when we needed him for our shows. I hired him in the hopes that he’d pair well with Ben, since Leroy could deliver the big bumps that Ben was used to taking. [B][I]Mark Smart (Face): [/I][/B]Mark is one of those kids who seems like he’s always been around the wrestling ring. He’d been running fan-sites on the net since he was thirteen, started working as a towel-boy for USPW when he was fifteen, then he started working for us. A good high-flyer, handy with a microphone, and not bad on the mat. [B][I]TJ Bailey (Heel): [/I][/B]I fought hard to get TJ onto the roster, then even harder when Ben threw a hissy-fit over TJ’s previous work as a jobber for TCW. TJ has a vaguely sub-standard all-round game, which actually puts him two steps ahead of about 60% of the roster, but he’s also got the potential to go far is we push him right and we needed someone capable of doing a decent Heel/Face turn somewhere down the track. [B]Upper Midcard[/B] [B][I]Brendan Idol (Face): [/I][/B]At twenty-four, “The Teen Dream” Brendan Idol was the oldest wrestler on our roster. Ben didn’t really want him there, since Idol had been jobbing for some of the indy promotions on the west coast, but we needed someone with Brendan’s flare and ability to work the crowd. [B][I]Decipher (Heel): [/I][/B]One of Ben’s choices; I wasn’t particularly happy to see him on the roster. Decipher bills himself as a masked luchador, but he’s a little bigger and better on the mat than you’d expect from the description. All in all he wasn’t a bad worker by the standards of our roster, but I’ve never met a wrestler who lacked the ability to make me care about a match quite like Decipher can. [B][I]Frankie Dee (Heel):[/I][/B] The first time I saw Dee, I expected him to be a high-flyer. Instead he’s a moderately competent Mat Wrestler capable of producing a couple of flashy moves thanks to his background in Judo. Unfortunately, he has all the in-ring charisma of a drunken radish. [B][I]Lion Heart (Face):[/I][/B] If you listen to Ben, Lion Heart is one of wrestling’s next big things. If you watch the tapes of his first three matches, all you tend to notice is his complete lack of understanding when it comes to selling, psychology and even basic wrestling techniques. Looks good swinging a steel chair, but has a nasty habit of splitting people open and leaving them with a concussion when he does so. [B]Midcard[/B] [B][I]Raphael (Heel): [/I][/B]One of the few guys in the promotion who will take a hit better than Ben, which probably explains why Ben’s so reluctant to let me push him. Raphael’s got the all-round skills to dominate the company after he’s got a few matches under his belt, and he understands the psychology of the game better than anyone else on our roster. [B][I]Stretch the Chicken Boy (Face):[/I][/B] Stretch is one of Ben’s cronies, an out-right weirdo that manages a decent aerial assault and the occasional match work. I had my doubts when Ben told me he was going to be holding a spot on the roster, but I was largely sold on the comedy value of his completely ineffectual finishing move – the Chicken Dancer (A Boston Crab where Stretch flaps his arms like a chicken and crows like a roster). [B]Lower Midcard[/B] [B][I]Nomad (Heel):[/I][/B] So much promise, such great charisma. It’s a pity he can’t really work the mike or put together a cohesive fighting style. Overall Nomad deserves a better push than he’s getting, especially in light of some Ben’s picks that made it into the main event. [B]Referee[/B] [B][I]Dwayne Hewett: [/I][/B]This was the downside of Ben’s hiring policy. Hewett was young, he was hungry for ref work, and he basically knew enough to count to three when the wrestler’s shoulders were on the mat. Given a choice, I probably would have picked someone else. Anyone else. But competent refs under the age of 25 are pretty rare, and most of them are already working for someone else. [B]Backstage Workers[/B] [B][I]Huey Cannonball (Face): [/I][/B]Huey was one of Ben’s best friends, the flashy high-flyer to Ben’s half-hearted mat game. Unlike Ben, Huey probably had a good chance of making it in the industry. In another company, Huey would probably be an asset. In Ben’s company, which tended to play to Ben’s strengths as a wrestler, Huey’s lack of a decent ground attack and sub-par mic skills was probably going to keep him off-stage for a while.

[Tyler Gadzinski]

nice start I like the location being that of Milwaukee cuz I am also from Wisconsin it sounds like itll be good keep up the work if you need a logo talk to Togg he is awesome at logos

[Tyler Gadzinski]

nice start I like the location being that of Milwaukee cuz I am also from Wisconsin it sounds like itll be good keep up the work if you need a logo talk to Togg he is awesome at logos

[jerlito]

like it i just got on i been busy with school and my friends backyard fed nioce start you don't see backyard wrestling dairy on here.

[jerlito]

like it i just got on i been busy with school and my friends backyard fed nioce start you don't see backyard wrestling dairy on here.

[Tyler Gadzinski]

yeah you really dont see too many Backyard diaries i was gonna start a diary with a small Hardcore based promotion but not a backyard.

[Tyler Gadzinski]

yeah you really dont see too many Backyard diaries i was gonna start a diary with a small Hardcore based promotion but not a backyard.

[arwink]

I tend to think of the entire thing as an experiement. Normally I play cutting edge feds, putting most of my energy into pushing the popularity up as quickly as possible until I can hire the usual cornel-verse indy stalwards (Hellmonkey, American Elemental, etc, etc). This time around I went in a slightly different direction - a promotion that's focused on pushing younger wrestlers and an owner that doesn't want to hire out workers that have made their names in other promotions (this part's inspired by Adam's intended revision to owner goals in the TEW2007 design diary). Ben Williams became the focal point because he's one of those Cornelverse workers that always ends up in my promotions, despite the fact that I almost never know why I hire him. He normally lasts about a year before I'm forced to get rid of him, so it'll be interesting to see how I handle being forced to keep him on the roster long-term. It's also my first attempt at a promotion that's more focused on story (both because this is my first Dynasty and because it suits Ben's style), working from a Traditional basis rather than Cutting Edge.

[arwink]

I tend to think of the entire thing as an experiement. Normally I play cutting edge feds, putting most of my energy into pushing the popularity up as quickly as possible until I can hire the usual cornel-verse indy stalwards (Hellmonkey, American Elemental, etc, etc). This time around I went in a slightly different direction - a promotion that's focused on pushing younger wrestlers and an owner that doesn't want to hire out workers that have made their names in other promotions (this part's inspired by Adam's intended revision to owner goals in the TEW2007 design diary). Ben Williams became the focal point because he's one of those Cornelverse workers that always ends up in my promotions, despite the fact that I almost never know why I hire him. He normally lasts about a year before I'm forced to get rid of him, so it'll be interesting to see how I handle being forced to keep him on the roster long-term. It's also my first attempt at a promotion that's more focused on story (both because this is my first Dynasty and because it suits Ben's style), working from a Traditional basis rather than Cutting Edge.

[Tyler Gadzinski]

yeah it sounds like its gonna be really good keep up with it dont slack

[Tyler Gadzinski]

yeah it sounds like its gonna be really good keep up with it dont slack

[arwink]

[QUOTE][B]December, Week 4, Thursday[/B] [B]Supernova Pinfall[/B] [B]Eight Hours Before the Show[/B] “You said I could name it anything I wanted.” Ben was looking surprised by my reaction to the flyer’s that had been posted around the town, the name Supernova Pinfall emblazoned across the top in big type. It was a half-hearted job at best, the product of fifteen minutes with a word-processor and a bad scan of Ben’s author photo from the back of his novel. “Using the same title as your novel probably wasn’t the best idea,” I tried explaining to him. “It confuses people.” “How?” “Well, for starters, there’s the distinct possibility that people will show up tonight expecting to see you doing a book signing rather than wrestling.” “Well…” Ben looked sheepish. “What happened?” “I just got news from the publishers. The book sold okay, but it looks like the second print run has been remaindered. I paid to get a bunch of books at cost, so I’ll probably be flogging them after the show.” “At least we’ll have merchandise, I guess.” “There’s that,” Ben said, “But it also puts us in a bit of a cash-flow situation.” “What kind of situation.” I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst. We had a bunch of wrestlers showing up tonight, expecting to get paid, and I didn’t relish the prospect of telling them it wouldn’t be happening. Especially Leroy. “We’ve still got the money I told you about to cover expenses,” Ben said. I breathed a sigh of relief. “It just means I won’t have any money coming in from the second print run, which means we can’t depend on me injecting any more cash into the company than I already have. Not until the second book’s finished and I get another advance.” I thought about that for a couple of seconds. “How long do you think that’ll take?” “About two years. Even then, they may not want to take on the novel. My agent figures there is only a relatively limited market for Science Fiction novels about professional wrestling.” “Right,” I said. “We just have to make sure the twenty-grand doesn’t run out before then.” Notes: My esteemed company owner rolled out his demands, which primarily consisted of “Don’t get into debt” and “Don’t run our popularity into the ground.” The latter shouldn’t be too hard, since we’re starting with 0 reputation and very poor booking prestige.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=2][B]December, Week 4, Thursday[/B][/SIZE] [B][SIZE=2]Supernova Pinfall; Attendance 13[/SIZE][/B] I looked at the small trickle of people making their way into Ben’s garage, barely filling the rows of seating he’d set up in front of the arena. “How many people did you say this place could hold?” “There’s seating for fifty or sixty people, probably enough space for another fifty or so if they’re willing to stand. Do you think that’ll be enough?” Ben’s eyes where shining, eager to look through the curtains and see the gathered crowd. “I was thinking that you probably should have made the place a little smaller. It’s going to look fairly empty out there.” He shuffled past me and looked through the curtain, surveying the half-dozen people who paid money at the gate. His face fell. “I was expecting better than that,” he said. “I wasn’t.” [B]Dark Match: Des Davids and Mark Smart vs. Leroy and Frankie Dee[/B] There were more people in the ring than there were in the audience for this match, which meant Ben sat backstage and moped about the lack of support his promotion was receiving. Eventually I pointed out that this was primarily an exercise in seeing how people worked together and getting the dedicated fan base (Ben’s sister, his father, and a pair of Leroy’s friends from NYC) familiar with the company’s major players. The match itself was nothing to write home about. Mark hit Frankie Dee with a few hip-tosses and drop kicks, then Frankie hit a moderately impressive suplex that sent a dazed Mark to the corner for a Tag. It’s obvious that Dwayne Hewitt has already lost track of what’s going on in the match, running back and forth and counting every time someone hits the mat regardless of whether they’re pinned or not. I raise an eyebrow to Ben, but resist the urge to point out that perhaps we should consider bending the hiring rule just this once. Des Davids brutalized Frankie Dee with a series of power bombs before a beaten Frankie tagged out and Leroy took control of the match. The New York Heavyweight hit a couple of stiff punches and kicks, then nailed Des Davids with the brutal GBH driver for the win. [B]Winner: Frankie Dee and Leroy (12:01)[/B] [B]Rating: F[/B] Ben comes out and spends a couple of minutes welcoming everyone to the show, talking about his SF-Wrestling epic (on sale now from the ticket counter) and explaining that BWW will be running a series of matches to determine who will be the first BWW Backyard Warlord. He spends so much time promoting himself that he almost forgets to mention that he will be taking part in one of these qualifiers tonight, taking on another of the BWW superstars (and I’m impressed that he manages to say this with a straight face), the dreaded Mexican Gremlin – DeCipher. After he finishes his spiel, Ben joins Huey Cannonball on the announce desk and gets ready to call the first match. [B]Promo: D[/B] [B]Match One: Flemmy Lemming vs. Brendan Idol[/B] Flemmy Lemming and Brendan Idol hit the ring at full speed, throwing one another into a series of holds and counter-holds that seems them rolling back and forth across the ring like a pair of fighting terriers. Dwayne Hewitt scurries after them, so frustrated and out of his element that he’s almost crying. After nearly ten minutes of furious action, it’s Flemmy who manages to lock in his Suicide Solution and force Brendan to tap. Dwayne is so relieved that there’s an obvious sign of what’s going on that he fails to notice that Brendan’s had his foot on the ropes for the last thirty seconds of the match. [B]Winner: Flemmy Lemming (9:55)[/B] [B]Rating: E[/B] Des Davids makes his way to the ring, microphone in hand. “I may have lost tonight,” he announces, “But I’m still one of the fittest, strongest and most powerful men to step into the ring. I wanted a shot at Leroy next week, but the owners have told me he’s already booked to face off against someone else. Instead I get my pick of anyone else on the roster – so Frankie Dee, I’m picking you. I may not be able to get my hands on your partner, but hammering you into the mat will make me feel just as good” Dee appears at the curtain, sans microphone (we can only afford one). “You want me, Davids. You got me. The day I’m afraid of a washed up footballer like you is the day I quit this sport and take up golf.” [B]Promo Rating: E[/B] [B]Match Two: Ben Williams vs. Decipher[/B] Ben and Decipher walk through a fairly forgettable match, the only real highlight being a few drop-kicks from Decipher and a couple of instances where Ben manages to pull-off a drop-toe hold without messing it up. Eventually the two men fall back on hammering each other with punches, but after six minutes Ben’s too tired to even make even a simple right look convincing. Dwayne Hewitt can’t even keep up with this lacklustre effort, and everyone breath’s a huge sigh of relief when Ben picks up the win through the use of a DDT he’s dubbed “The Supernova Pinfall.” I feel the overwhelming urge to beat my head against the wall, quietly reminding myself that he’s the boss as the 13 members of the crowd file out of the garage. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (7.36)[/B] [B][U]Match Rating: F[/U][/B] I take a few moments to chat with the paying customers as they leave, trying to work out what they enjoyed and what they didn’t. Basically the feedback highlights the obvious – Wrestling isn’t our strong suit, and we need to spend a little more time working the crowd with angles. [B]Overall Rating: F[/B] [B]Paying Customers: 13[/B]

[arwink]

[QUOTE][B]December, Week 4, Thursday[/B] [B]Supernova Pinfall[/B] [B]Eight Hours Before the Show[/B] “You said I could name it anything I wanted.” Ben was looking surprised by my reaction to the flyer’s that had been posted around the town, the name Supernova Pinfall emblazoned across the top in big type. It was a half-hearted job at best, the product of fifteen minutes with a word-processor and a bad scan of Ben’s author photo from the back of his novel. “Using the same title as your novel probably wasn’t the best idea,” I tried explaining to him. “It confuses people.” “How?” “Well, for starters, there’s the distinct possibility that people will show up tonight expecting to see you doing a book signing rather than wrestling.” “Well…” Ben looked sheepish. “What happened?” “I just got news from the publishers. The book sold okay, but it looks like the second print run has been remaindered. I paid to get a bunch of books at cost, so I’ll probably be flogging them after the show.” “At least we’ll have merchandise, I guess.” “There’s that,” Ben said, “But it also puts us in a bit of a cash-flow situation.” “What kind of situation.” I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst. We had a bunch of wrestlers showing up tonight, expecting to get paid, and I didn’t relish the prospect of telling them it wouldn’t be happening. Especially Leroy. “We’ve still got the money I told you about to cover expenses,” Ben said. I breathed a sigh of relief. “It just means I won’t have any money coming in from the second print run, which means we can’t depend on me injecting any more cash into the company than I already have. Not until the second book’s finished and I get another advance.” I thought about that for a couple of seconds. “How long do you think that’ll take?” “About two years. Even then, they may not want to take on the novel. My agent figures there is only a relatively limited market for Science Fiction novels about professional wrestling.” “Right,” I said. “We just have to make sure the twenty-grand doesn’t run out before then.” Notes: My esteemed company owner rolled out his demands, which primarily consisted of “Don’t get into debt” and “Don’t run our popularity into the ground.” The latter shouldn’t be too hard, since we’re starting with 0 reputation and very poor booking prestige.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=2][B]December, Week 4, Thursday[/B][/SIZE] [B][SIZE=2]Supernova Pinfall; Attendance 13[/SIZE][/B] I looked at the small trickle of people making their way into Ben’s garage, barely filling the rows of seating he’d set up in front of the arena. “How many people did you say this place could hold?” “There’s seating for fifty or sixty people, probably enough space for another fifty or so if they’re willing to stand. Do you think that’ll be enough?” Ben’s eyes where shining, eager to look through the curtains and see the gathered crowd. “I was thinking that you probably should have made the place a little smaller. It’s going to look fairly empty out there.” He shuffled past me and looked through the curtain, surveying the half-dozen people who paid money at the gate. His face fell. “I was expecting better than that,” he said. “I wasn’t.” [B]Dark Match: Des Davids and Mark Smart vs. Leroy and Frankie Dee[/B] There were more people in the ring than there were in the audience for this match, which meant Ben sat backstage and moped about the lack of support his promotion was receiving. Eventually I pointed out that this was primarily an exercise in seeing how people worked together and getting the dedicated fan base (Ben’s sister, his father, and a pair of Leroy’s friends from NYC) familiar with the company’s major players. The match itself was nothing to write home about. Mark hit Frankie Dee with a few hip-tosses and drop kicks, then Frankie hit a moderately impressive suplex that sent a dazed Mark to the corner for a Tag. It’s obvious that Dwayne Hewitt has already lost track of what’s going on in the match, running back and forth and counting every time someone hits the mat regardless of whether they’re pinned or not. I raise an eyebrow to Ben, but resist the urge to point out that perhaps we should consider bending the hiring rule just this once. Des Davids brutalized Frankie Dee with a series of power bombs before a beaten Frankie tagged out and Leroy took control of the match. The New York Heavyweight hit a couple of stiff punches and kicks, then nailed Des Davids with the brutal GBH driver for the win. [B]Winner: Frankie Dee and Leroy (12:01)[/B] [B]Rating: F[/B] Ben comes out and spends a couple of minutes welcoming everyone to the show, talking about his SF-Wrestling epic (on sale now from the ticket counter) and explaining that BWW will be running a series of matches to determine who will be the first BWW Backyard Warlord. He spends so much time promoting himself that he almost forgets to mention that he will be taking part in one of these qualifiers tonight, taking on another of the BWW superstars (and I’m impressed that he manages to say this with a straight face), the dreaded Mexican Gremlin – DeCipher. After he finishes his spiel, Ben joins Huey Cannonball on the announce desk and gets ready to call the first match. [B]Promo: D[/B] [B]Match One: Flemmy Lemming vs. Brendan Idol[/B] Flemmy Lemming and Brendan Idol hit the ring at full speed, throwing one another into a series of holds and counter-holds that seems them rolling back and forth across the ring like a pair of fighting terriers. Dwayne Hewitt scurries after them, so frustrated and out of his element that he’s almost crying. After nearly ten minutes of furious action, it’s Flemmy who manages to lock in his Suicide Solution and force Brendan to tap. Dwayne is so relieved that there’s an obvious sign of what’s going on that he fails to notice that Brendan’s had his foot on the ropes for the last thirty seconds of the match. [B]Winner: Flemmy Lemming (9:55)[/B] [B]Rating: E[/B] Des Davids makes his way to the ring, microphone in hand. “I may have lost tonight,” he announces, “But I’m still one of the fittest, strongest and most powerful men to step into the ring. I wanted a shot at Leroy next week, but the owners have told me he’s already booked to face off against someone else. Instead I get my pick of anyone else on the roster – so Frankie Dee, I’m picking you. I may not be able to get my hands on your partner, but hammering you into the mat will make me feel just as good” Dee appears at the curtain, sans microphone (we can only afford one). “You want me, Davids. You got me. The day I’m afraid of a washed up footballer like you is the day I quit this sport and take up golf.” [B]Promo Rating: E[/B] [B]Match Two: Ben Williams vs. Decipher[/B] Ben and Decipher walk through a fairly forgettable match, the only real highlight being a few drop-kicks from Decipher and a couple of instances where Ben manages to pull-off a drop-toe hold without messing it up. Eventually the two men fall back on hammering each other with punches, but after six minutes Ben’s too tired to even make even a simple right look convincing. Dwayne Hewitt can’t even keep up with this lacklustre effort, and everyone breath’s a huge sigh of relief when Ben picks up the win through the use of a DDT he’s dubbed “The Supernova Pinfall.” I feel the overwhelming urge to beat my head against the wall, quietly reminding myself that he’s the boss as the 13 members of the crowd file out of the garage. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (7.36)[/B] [B][U]Match Rating: F[/U][/B] I take a few moments to chat with the paying customers as they leave, trying to work out what they enjoyed and what they didn’t. Basically the feedback highlights the obvious – Wrestling isn’t our strong suit, and we need to spend a little more time working the crowd with angles. [B]Overall Rating: F[/B] [B]Paying Customers: 13[/B]

[arwink]

[QUOTE][B]January 1st, Around 2 AM, Somewhere Between Sobriety and Ben’s garage[/B] There was a keg. Actually, there were two. That’s probably why we’re all drunk. There were kegs because we’d actually made money, primarily because Ben had managed to talk one of the local brewers into sponsoring the promotion. The fact that every single person who showed up at the first show walked away with a copy of his book didn’t hurt either. It would have been a happy time, were it not for the fact that the room was spinning and I could hear a drunken Lion Heart offering to show Leroy one of the moves he was planning on using in their match in two weeks time. Ben was worse than me. Far worse. Which meant this was the best time to tell him the bad news. “Ben, I fired Dwayne Hewitt.” Ben nodded, his eyes glassy. “S’okay,” he slurred. “Ash long ash there’s someone to replashe him.” “I hired a guy named David Poker. “ “He’sh not old, ish he?” “He’s twenty-five,” I lied, subtracting a year from David’s actual age. What Ben didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.[/QUOTE] [B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week Two, January 2006 Sticks, Stones and Broken Bones[/SIZE][/B] [B]Dark Match: Raphael vs Ben Williams[/B] Ben was adamant that he get a match tonight, despite my original intent to keep him on the announcing box. Rapheal was complaining about not being used in the last show, so the two of them are sent out for a last-minute dark match to entertain our loyal fanbase who have arrived early (This time consisting of a small crew of New Yorkers that drove in to watch Leroy and Raphael’s Mother). Ben does his best to take control of the match from the outset, sliding under the ring ropes and laying into Raphael before the bell is even rung. Raphael responds with a technical offence, neatly flipping Ben over with a quick hold that leads to a two-count. After last week I expected Ben to tone things down a little from here on, but he promptly pulled himself to his feet and kept going at full speed. Raphael is caught off-guard by the brutality of the assault, and Ben eventually nails him with a Supernova Pinfall DDT. Unlike last week, he ends the match barely puffed by the experience. Just like last week, no-one in the crown is remotely moved by the performance. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (5:51) Rating: F[/B] Chuffed by his second straight win, Ben takes to the announce desk and welcomes everyone. He makes use of the phrase “I am the man” several times, promotes his book (despite the fact that this is the same crowd that bought copies last time), and makes a point of mentioning that both of tonight’s matches have been named qualifiers for the Backyard Warlord tournament. My instructions were for him to put over both matches, but mostly he puts over his forthcoming semi-finals match against Flemmy Lemming at Shooting Stars in two weeks. Any mention that the winners of tonight’s matches will be facing one another happens as an afterthought. [B]Promo: F[/B] [B]Match One: Des Davids vs. Frankie Dee[/B] The news that this match has been turned into part of the Backyard Warlord tournament seems to spur on both men, bringing out the best in both. Des Davids starts things off by locking Frankie Dee into a powerful bear hug, but Frankie works his way free and responds with a series of quick throws and shoulder locks. At one point he even takes to the second rope and lands a flying leg-drop on the prone Davids. Halfway through the match, David’s lands a punch that’s a little to stiff and poorly timed, and the match turns into a slugfest that eventually spills out of the ring. Both are disqualified by count-out, leaving an dismayed Ben Williams to point out that the winner of Lion Heart/Leroy will be getting an easy pass to the finals at February’s Lawnmower Massacre. [B]Winner: Double Count Out (6:44) Rating: F[/B] Leroy stands in the ring and stares down the audience. He explains that nothing is going to stop him from becoming the Warlord of BBW, especially not a wanna-be pipsqueak like Lion Heart. He points out that the GBH Driver is the most brutal finishing move in the company, and that every challenge he faces is going to feel it until the title’s around his waist. [B]Promo: D[/B] [B]Match Two: Leroy vs Lion Heart[/B] Lion Heart was originally intended as an easy squash for the heavyweight Leroy, but the two of them really started to shine as soon as they hit the ring. Leroy’s size and willingness to take stiff shots allowed the two of them to overcome Lion Heart’s lack of training and psychology, and their styles in the ring meshed remarkably well. While it was far from a conventional wrestling match, with both participants throwing one another into ring-posts and hammering one another with chairs, the crowd was drawn into the action and actually booed when Leroy used the G.B.H Driver to pick up the pin. [B]Winner: Leroy (6:46) Rating: E[/B] Leroy sat in the ring as a concussed Lion Heart was carried backstage. The East Side Assassin pointed out that he’d be doing the exact same thing in two weeks time when he faces his opponent at the finals of the tournament at Lawnmower Massacre [B]Promo: F Summary[/B] Ben Williams beats Raphael (F) Des Davids and Frankie Dee draw due to Double Count-Out (F) Leroy beats Lion Heart (E) [B]Final Rating: E Attendance: 16[/B] [QUOTE]At Shooting Stars in Two Weeks Time Nomad vs. Stretch the Chicken Boy TJ Bailey vs. Mark Smart Ben Williams Vs. Flemmy Lemming in a Backyard Warlord Semi-Final[/QUOTE]

[arwink]

[QUOTE][B]January 1st, Around 2 AM, Somewhere Between Sobriety and Ben’s garage[/B] There was a keg. Actually, there were two. That’s probably why we’re all drunk. There were kegs because we’d actually made money, primarily because Ben had managed to talk one of the local brewers into sponsoring the promotion. The fact that every single person who showed up at the first show walked away with a copy of his book didn’t hurt either. It would have been a happy time, were it not for the fact that the room was spinning and I could hear a drunken Lion Heart offering to show Leroy one of the moves he was planning on using in their match in two weeks time. Ben was worse than me. Far worse. Which meant this was the best time to tell him the bad news. “Ben, I fired Dwayne Hewitt.” Ben nodded, his eyes glassy. “S’okay,” he slurred. “Ash long ash there’s someone to replashe him.” “I hired a guy named David Poker. “ “He’sh not old, ish he?” “He’s twenty-five,” I lied, subtracting a year from David’s actual age. What Ben didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.[/QUOTE] [B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week Two, January 2006 Sticks, Stones and Broken Bones[/SIZE][/B] [B]Dark Match: Raphael vs Ben Williams[/B] Ben was adamant that he get a match tonight, despite my original intent to keep him on the announcing box. Rapheal was complaining about not being used in the last show, so the two of them are sent out for a last-minute dark match to entertain our loyal fanbase who have arrived early (This time consisting of a small crew of New Yorkers that drove in to watch Leroy and Raphael’s Mother). Ben does his best to take control of the match from the outset, sliding under the ring ropes and laying into Raphael before the bell is even rung. Raphael responds with a technical offence, neatly flipping Ben over with a quick hold that leads to a two-count. After last week I expected Ben to tone things down a little from here on, but he promptly pulled himself to his feet and kept going at full speed. Raphael is caught off-guard by the brutality of the assault, and Ben eventually nails him with a Supernova Pinfall DDT. Unlike last week, he ends the match barely puffed by the experience. Just like last week, no-one in the crown is remotely moved by the performance. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (5:51) Rating: F[/B] Chuffed by his second straight win, Ben takes to the announce desk and welcomes everyone. He makes use of the phrase “I am the man” several times, promotes his book (despite the fact that this is the same crowd that bought copies last time), and makes a point of mentioning that both of tonight’s matches have been named qualifiers for the Backyard Warlord tournament. My instructions were for him to put over both matches, but mostly he puts over his forthcoming semi-finals match against Flemmy Lemming at Shooting Stars in two weeks. Any mention that the winners of tonight’s matches will be facing one another happens as an afterthought. [B]Promo: F[/B] [B]Match One: Des Davids vs. Frankie Dee[/B] The news that this match has been turned into part of the Backyard Warlord tournament seems to spur on both men, bringing out the best in both. Des Davids starts things off by locking Frankie Dee into a powerful bear hug, but Frankie works his way free and responds with a series of quick throws and shoulder locks. At one point he even takes to the second rope and lands a flying leg-drop on the prone Davids. Halfway through the match, David’s lands a punch that’s a little to stiff and poorly timed, and the match turns into a slugfest that eventually spills out of the ring. Both are disqualified by count-out, leaving an dismayed Ben Williams to point out that the winner of Lion Heart/Leroy will be getting an easy pass to the finals at February’s Lawnmower Massacre. [B]Winner: Double Count Out (6:44) Rating: F[/B] Leroy stands in the ring and stares down the audience. He explains that nothing is going to stop him from becoming the Warlord of BBW, especially not a wanna-be pipsqueak like Lion Heart. He points out that the GBH Driver is the most brutal finishing move in the company, and that every challenge he faces is going to feel it until the title’s around his waist. [B]Promo: D[/B] [B]Match Two: Leroy vs Lion Heart[/B] Lion Heart was originally intended as an easy squash for the heavyweight Leroy, but the two of them really started to shine as soon as they hit the ring. Leroy’s size and willingness to take stiff shots allowed the two of them to overcome Lion Heart’s lack of training and psychology, and their styles in the ring meshed remarkably well. While it was far from a conventional wrestling match, with both participants throwing one another into ring-posts and hammering one another with chairs, the crowd was drawn into the action and actually booed when Leroy used the G.B.H Driver to pick up the pin. [B]Winner: Leroy (6:46) Rating: E[/B] Leroy sat in the ring as a concussed Lion Heart was carried backstage. The East Side Assassin pointed out that he’d be doing the exact same thing in two weeks time when he faces his opponent at the finals of the tournament at Lawnmower Massacre [B]Promo: F Summary[/B] Ben Williams beats Raphael (F) Des Davids and Frankie Dee draw due to Double Count-Out (F) Leroy beats Lion Heart (E) [B]Final Rating: E Attendance: 16[/B] [QUOTE]At Shooting Stars in Two Weeks Time Nomad vs. Stretch the Chicken Boy TJ Bailey vs. Mark Smart Ben Williams Vs. Flemmy Lemming in a Backyard Warlord Semi-Final[/QUOTE]

[arwink]

[B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week 4, 2006 Event: Ben William’s Garage Location: Shooting Stars Attendance: 9[/SIZE][/B] [B]Dark Match: Nomad vs. Stretch the Chicken Boy[/B] Nomad walked into the ring wearing battered blue jeans, a bandana and a leather jacket. He glared a the crowd, pausing just long enough to wink at the sole female under the age of 30 in the audience, then proceeded to lounge against the ropes. Stretch spent his entrance making sure that all five audience member was familiar with his pet rubber chicken, Hidulfo, before climbing into the ring and trying to intimidate Nomad with his rooster cry. Nomad started the match by taking to the air, successfully nailing Stretch with a quick moonsault after laying him out with a running bulldog. Stretched tried to ground Nomad with a series of holds, but the Canadian grunge rocker proved as adept on the mat as he was in the air. A frustrated Stretch finally snapped and started beating Nomad with Hidulfo the Rubber Chicken, giving Nomad the win as a result of a DQ. [B]Winner: Nomad wins by DQ (12:26) Rating: F[/B] After two months of starting the show with Ben and one of his lengthy acts of self promotion, we caught our loyal regulars off-guard when Brendan Idol made his way to the ring in order to kick off the show. “Flemmy Lemming,” Idol said. “Back in Supernova Pinfall, incompetent refereeing let you beat me and advance in the Warlord tournament. I’m a fair man, Lemming. I don’t mind losing, but I’m only happy to lose to someone on my own merits. Mark my words Flemmy – if incompetence was enough to knock me out of the tournament, karma says that the same thing will probably happen to you. [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 1: TJ Bailey vs. Mark Smart[/B] The two cruiserweight battled it out with a fairly obvious series of hip-tosses and drop kicks, bouncing off the ropes and turnbuckles like a pair of sluggish pinballs. Mark Smart scored the biggest pop of the match he hit the Smart Attack and put Bailey down for the three count. [B]Winner: Mark Smart (7:31) Rating: F[/B] Flemmy has been manning the announce desk with Williams all night, but brings his mike down to the ring for a few moments to address the crowd. “Earlier tonight, Brendan Idol was complaining about the incompetence of others knocking him out of the Warlord tournament. That’s too bad, but the simple fact of the matter is this – I won, he lost. Tonight I’m moving ahead in the tournament, I’m going to dismantle Ben Williams like he was a lego toy, and then I’m going to become the Backyard Warlord at Lawnmower Massacre. I may not be the biggest guy in this promotion, but size doesn’t matter when you nail someone to the mat and tie their legs into knots.” [B]Promo Rating: E Match 2: Flemmy Lemming vs. Ben Williams[/B] Flemmy and Ben locked up within moments of starting the match, giving the advantage to the technically adept Lemming for the early stages. Like Leroy and Lion Heart, the pair managed to find a complimentary style despite the gulf between their in-ring ability. William’s talent for taking big bumps worked perfectly, allowing Flemmy to throw him around the ring with a series of suplexes and DDTs that frequently dumped Williams on his head. Ben struggled to remain in the match, only picking up the win when Brendan Idol ran out from backstage and speared Flemmy as an act of revenge for his first round defeat at Supernova Pinfall last month. The referee managed to miss the attack, letting a winded Williams pick up the win. [B]Winner: Ben Williams Rating: F[/B] We closed out the night with Nomad reappearing with a small crate of Ben’s books, handing them out to audience members. His rough charm succeeded in ensuring that at least one female audience member would be coming back next month, although her boyfriend didn’t seem to happy that she’d attracted Nomad’s attention. [B] Rating: C+[/B] [B]Card Summary[/B] Nomad beat Stretch via DQ (F) Mark Smart beat TJ Bailey (F) Ben Williams beat Flemmy Lemming (F) [B]Overall Rating: F[/B] [QUOTE][B]Next Month: Lawnmower Massacre[/B] DeCipher vs. Lion Heart Raphael and Nomad vs. Stretch the Chicken Boy and Huey Cannonball Mark Smart and Des Davids Vs. TJ Bailey and Frankie Dee Ben Williams vs. Leroy for the Backyard Warlord Title Flemmy Lemming vs. Brendan Idol[/QUOTE]

[arwink]

[B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week 4, 2006 Event: Ben William’s Garage Location: Shooting Stars Attendance: 9[/SIZE][/B] [B]Dark Match: Nomad vs. Stretch the Chicken Boy[/B] Nomad walked into the ring wearing battered blue jeans, a bandana and a leather jacket. He glared a the crowd, pausing just long enough to wink at the sole female under the age of 30 in the audience, then proceeded to lounge against the ropes. Stretch spent his entrance making sure that all five audience member was familiar with his pet rubber chicken, Hidulfo, before climbing into the ring and trying to intimidate Nomad with his rooster cry. Nomad started the match by taking to the air, successfully nailing Stretch with a quick moonsault after laying him out with a running bulldog. Stretched tried to ground Nomad with a series of holds, but the Canadian grunge rocker proved as adept on the mat as he was in the air. A frustrated Stretch finally snapped and started beating Nomad with Hidulfo the Rubber Chicken, giving Nomad the win as a result of a DQ. [B]Winner: Nomad wins by DQ (12:26) Rating: F[/B] After two months of starting the show with Ben and one of his lengthy acts of self promotion, we caught our loyal regulars off-guard when Brendan Idol made his way to the ring in order to kick off the show. “Flemmy Lemming,” Idol said. “Back in Supernova Pinfall, incompetent refereeing let you beat me and advance in the Warlord tournament. I’m a fair man, Lemming. I don’t mind losing, but I’m only happy to lose to someone on my own merits. Mark my words Flemmy – if incompetence was enough to knock me out of the tournament, karma says that the same thing will probably happen to you. [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 1: TJ Bailey vs. Mark Smart[/B] The two cruiserweight battled it out with a fairly obvious series of hip-tosses and drop kicks, bouncing off the ropes and turnbuckles like a pair of sluggish pinballs. Mark Smart scored the biggest pop of the match he hit the Smart Attack and put Bailey down for the three count. [B]Winner: Mark Smart (7:31) Rating: F[/B] Flemmy has been manning the announce desk with Williams all night, but brings his mike down to the ring for a few moments to address the crowd. “Earlier tonight, Brendan Idol was complaining about the incompetence of others knocking him out of the Warlord tournament. That’s too bad, but the simple fact of the matter is this – I won, he lost. Tonight I’m moving ahead in the tournament, I’m going to dismantle Ben Williams like he was a lego toy, and then I’m going to become the Backyard Warlord at Lawnmower Massacre. I may not be the biggest guy in this promotion, but size doesn’t matter when you nail someone to the mat and tie their legs into knots.” [B]Promo Rating: E Match 2: Flemmy Lemming vs. Ben Williams[/B] Flemmy and Ben locked up within moments of starting the match, giving the advantage to the technically adept Lemming for the early stages. Like Leroy and Lion Heart, the pair managed to find a complimentary style despite the gulf between their in-ring ability. William’s talent for taking big bumps worked perfectly, allowing Flemmy to throw him around the ring with a series of suplexes and DDTs that frequently dumped Williams on his head. Ben struggled to remain in the match, only picking up the win when Brendan Idol ran out from backstage and speared Flemmy as an act of revenge for his first round defeat at Supernova Pinfall last month. The referee managed to miss the attack, letting a winded Williams pick up the win. [B]Winner: Ben Williams Rating: F[/B] We closed out the night with Nomad reappearing with a small crate of Ben’s books, handing them out to audience members. His rough charm succeeded in ensuring that at least one female audience member would be coming back next month, although her boyfriend didn’t seem to happy that she’d attracted Nomad’s attention. [B] Rating: C+[/B] [B]Card Summary[/B] Nomad beat Stretch via DQ (F) Mark Smart beat TJ Bailey (F) Ben Williams beat Flemmy Lemming (F) [B]Overall Rating: F[/B] [QUOTE][B]Next Month: Lawnmower Massacre[/B] DeCipher vs. Lion Heart Raphael and Nomad vs. Stretch the Chicken Boy and Huey Cannonball Mark Smart and Des Davids Vs. TJ Bailey and Frankie Dee Ben Williams vs. Leroy for the Backyard Warlord Title Flemmy Lemming vs. Brendan Idol[/QUOTE]

[arwink]

[B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week 2, February 2006 Lawnmower Massacre Location: Ben William’s Garage Attendance: 19[/SIZE][/B] [B]Dark Match 1: DeCipher vs. Lion Heart (Hardcore Rules)[/B] This was more pantomime than wrestling match, with Lion Heart and Decipher chasing one another back and forth across the ring and the stadium. DeCipher clearly had the upper hand, coming to the match prepared with a kendo stick and a baseball bat. Finally he lures Lion Heart into the centre of the ring and hits him with the Mexican Gremlin Grab (a Flair-style grab to the crotch) and lays him low. [B]Winner: DeCipher (7:38) Rating: F[/B] [B]Dark Match 2: Raphael/Nomad vs Stretch/Huey Cannonball[/B] None of the participants were particularly happy about being left in the dark matches, so they expressed this displeasure by giving the match 110%. The three cruiserweights took things topside as soon as the match started, leaving Raphael looking a little out of place. Then the golden grappler too control of the match, grounding and pounding both stretch and Huey Cannonball for three minutes. Eventually Huey manages to fight back, laying Raphael out and covering him with a Top-Rope Cannonball Slam. [B]Winner: Huey Cannonball (8:05) Rating: F[/B] We start the show off with a quick introduction from Ben. Most of the audience are regulars by now, folks who attend out of sympathy for the wrestlers, so he doesn’t bother doing the spiel. Instead he leaves it to Huey Cannonball to put over the fact that we’ll be seeing the first Backyard Warlord crowned at the end of the night. [B]Promo: F[/B] The announcement was followed by Brendan Idol, who spent a couple of minutes putting over his match with Flemmy Lemming later tonight. “I’ve had a couple of people tell me that my actions last week were unfair,” he says. “I don’t care. I was just the hand of fate, the instrument of karma, doing my best to ensure that justice was served. If Flemmy is as good as he claims, then he’ll have no problem defeating me in our match tonight.” [B]Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 1: Mark Smart/Des Davids vs. TJ Bailey/Frankie Dee[/B] It was Des Davids that caught everyone off guard in the opening match, supplementing his usual power game with a set of brawling moves that were both stiffer and more believable than anything we’d seen on stage so far. He hammered TJ Bailey with a spinebuster halfway through the match, forcing the cruiserweight to tag out to Frankie Dee. Davids responded with a hot tag to Smart, who traded submission holds with Dee for a couple of minutes for taking to the air and hitting his opponent with a series of second-rope dropkicks and knee drops. Eventually Smart tagged Davids back in, who finished Dee off with a spear followed by a Jackhammer Powerslam [B]Winner: Des Davids and Mark Smart (12:46) Rating: F[/B] Since he scored such a good reaction from our female audience member last show, we sent Nomad out during the break between matches to try and sell a couple of the BWW shirts we’d had printed up using the sponsorship money. There was a couple of female wrestling fans in the corner of the crowd, led by the girl he’d been flirting with last show, who lapped up the bulk of Nomad’s attention attention. I made a mental note to set up a few Nomad T-Shirts at our Café Press store ASAP. [B]Rating: C+[/B] [B]Match 2: Ben Williams vs. Leroy[/B] Leroy did a great job as a menacing heel in this match, using his size and brutality to dominate Ben Williams for the opening minutes. Ben eventually mounted something of a come-back, primarily pulling out a series of high-risk moves that ultimately did as much damage to Leroy as they did him. Things took a turn for the worse when Leroy caught Ben as he tried to do a flying cross body, then slammed the company owner into the mat with enough force to shake the windows. Everyone thought Ben was finished, me included, until he scored a pin using a small package and a handful of tights. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (8:25) Rating: F[/B] After the match, Ben spent a couple of minutes celebrating the fact that he was Warlord and doing his best to pimp his book to the crowd. Most of them rolled their eyes, having bought and read two or three copies of the book by now. Ben scored, at best, polite applause. [B]Rating: F[/B] Just as Ben begins telling us how cool his book is for the fourth time, he’s interrupted by Flemmy Lemming who leaps into the ring. “We both know I could have beaten you,” Flemmy says. “Just like we both know the only reason you’re holding that title right now is the fact that you own this company.” Ben rails at the accusation, holding his hand out for the microphone so he can refute the accusation. Flemmy refuses to hand it over. “You really think you can hold that title?” Flemmy asks. “You really think you’re a wrestler? How about you face me, next month, at Night of the Warlord.” This time the mike makes its way into Ben’s hands, and he offers the crowd two words. “You’re on.” [B]Rating: D Match 3: Flemmy Lemming vs. Brendan Idol[/B] Both wrestlers went at it, trading the advantage back and forth a couple of times during the match. Flemmy scored the first two-count, though it was Brendan who picked up the win with a snap-suplex followed by a quick pinfall. [B]Winner: Brendan Idol (14:43) Rating: F[/B]

[arwink]

[B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week 2, February 2006 Lawnmower Massacre Location: Ben William’s Garage Attendance: 19[/SIZE][/B] [B]Dark Match 1: DeCipher vs. Lion Heart (Hardcore Rules)[/B] This was more pantomime than wrestling match, with Lion Heart and Decipher chasing one another back and forth across the ring and the stadium. DeCipher clearly had the upper hand, coming to the match prepared with a kendo stick and a baseball bat. Finally he lures Lion Heart into the centre of the ring and hits him with the Mexican Gremlin Grab (a Flair-style grab to the crotch) and lays him low. [B]Winner: DeCipher (7:38) Rating: F[/B] [B]Dark Match 2: Raphael/Nomad vs Stretch/Huey Cannonball[/B] None of the participants were particularly happy about being left in the dark matches, so they expressed this displeasure by giving the match 110%. The three cruiserweights took things topside as soon as the match started, leaving Raphael looking a little out of place. Then the golden grappler too control of the match, grounding and pounding both stretch and Huey Cannonball for three minutes. Eventually Huey manages to fight back, laying Raphael out and covering him with a Top-Rope Cannonball Slam. [B]Winner: Huey Cannonball (8:05) Rating: F[/B] We start the show off with a quick introduction from Ben. Most of the audience are regulars by now, folks who attend out of sympathy for the wrestlers, so he doesn’t bother doing the spiel. Instead he leaves it to Huey Cannonball to put over the fact that we’ll be seeing the first Backyard Warlord crowned at the end of the night. [B]Promo: F[/B] The announcement was followed by Brendan Idol, who spent a couple of minutes putting over his match with Flemmy Lemming later tonight. “I’ve had a couple of people tell me that my actions last week were unfair,” he says. “I don’t care. I was just the hand of fate, the instrument of karma, doing my best to ensure that justice was served. If Flemmy is as good as he claims, then he’ll have no problem defeating me in our match tonight.” [B]Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 1: Mark Smart/Des Davids vs. TJ Bailey/Frankie Dee[/B] It was Des Davids that caught everyone off guard in the opening match, supplementing his usual power game with a set of brawling moves that were both stiffer and more believable than anything we’d seen on stage so far. He hammered TJ Bailey with a spinebuster halfway through the match, forcing the cruiserweight to tag out to Frankie Dee. Davids responded with a hot tag to Smart, who traded submission holds with Dee for a couple of minutes for taking to the air and hitting his opponent with a series of second-rope dropkicks and knee drops. Eventually Smart tagged Davids back in, who finished Dee off with a spear followed by a Jackhammer Powerslam [B]Winner: Des Davids and Mark Smart (12:46) Rating: F[/B] Since he scored such a good reaction from our female audience member last show, we sent Nomad out during the break between matches to try and sell a couple of the BWW shirts we’d had printed up using the sponsorship money. There was a couple of female wrestling fans in the corner of the crowd, led by the girl he’d been flirting with last show, who lapped up the bulk of Nomad’s attention attention. I made a mental note to set up a few Nomad T-Shirts at our Café Press store ASAP. [B]Rating: C+[/B] [B]Match 2: Ben Williams vs. Leroy[/B] Leroy did a great job as a menacing heel in this match, using his size and brutality to dominate Ben Williams for the opening minutes. Ben eventually mounted something of a come-back, primarily pulling out a series of high-risk moves that ultimately did as much damage to Leroy as they did him. Things took a turn for the worse when Leroy caught Ben as he tried to do a flying cross body, then slammed the company owner into the mat with enough force to shake the windows. Everyone thought Ben was finished, me included, until he scored a pin using a small package and a handful of tights. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (8:25) Rating: F[/B] After the match, Ben spent a couple of minutes celebrating the fact that he was Warlord and doing his best to pimp his book to the crowd. Most of them rolled their eyes, having bought and read two or three copies of the book by now. Ben scored, at best, polite applause. [B]Rating: F[/B] Just as Ben begins telling us how cool his book is for the fourth time, he’s interrupted by Flemmy Lemming who leaps into the ring. “We both know I could have beaten you,” Flemmy says. “Just like we both know the only reason you’re holding that title right now is the fact that you own this company.” Ben rails at the accusation, holding his hand out for the microphone so he can refute the accusation. Flemmy refuses to hand it over. “You really think you can hold that title?” Flemmy asks. “You really think you’re a wrestler? How about you face me, next month, at Night of the Warlord.” This time the mike makes its way into Ben’s hands, and he offers the crowd two words. “You’re on.” [B]Rating: D Match 3: Flemmy Lemming vs. Brendan Idol[/B] Both wrestlers went at it, trading the advantage back and forth a couple of times during the match. Flemmy scored the first two-count, though it was Brendan who picked up the win with a snap-suplex followed by a quick pinfall. [B]Winner: Brendan Idol (14:43) Rating: F[/B]

[arwink]

[B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week 2, March 2006 Night of the Warlord Location: Ben William’s Garage Attendance: 11[/SIZE][/B] Raphael is waiting in the ring, getting ready for his first match. He notices the small group of female fans we’ve accumulated over the last couple of weeks, and takes a few moments to explain why their favourite wrestler Nomad won’t be appearing. (Of course, given that only half the number of women are present and his name wasn’t on the flyers, this may not be news to them). “The scruffy ruffian refused to show up to tonight’s show,” Raphael bragged. “It is because he knows that the golden grappler, the idol of millions, Raphael is here to take care of you pretty ladies in his absence. Surely I am sexier than he is, non?” [B]Rating: F[/B] [B]Dark Match: Lion Heart vs. Raphael vs. TJ Bailey[/B] Raphael took control of the match early on and never really looked back, frequently holding off the combined offence of both Lion Heart and TJ Bailey as they attempted to team up and find a chink in Raphael’s offence. After nearly ten minutes it becomes apparent that there isn’t one, and Raphael rolls up TJ Bailey and pins him using a fistful of tights. [B]Winner: Raphael (11:46) Rating: F[/B] This week we start the show with Des Davids putting over his upcoming match with Leroy. “They call Leroy the East-Side Assassin,” Davids says. “I just call him the thing between me and a touch down. It takes more than size to scare me, Assassin. I used to go through guys twice you size when I was playing football. You aren’t going to be able to stop me any better than they could.” [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 1: Des Davids vs. Leroy[/B] Des David’s started this match going for the quick victory, charging into the ring and hitting Leroy with a spear and a suplex powerslam. The crowd actually gave a small pop when they realized how easily the ex-footballer was throwing around the heavyweight. Davids plays to the crowd, performing the same quick celebratory dance he used to give when he scored a touchdown. Unfortunately this gives Leroy enough time to recover and ensures that David’s has seen his last decent offensive for the entire match. Leroy hammers him with a flurry of stiff forearm shots onto Davids for nearly five minutes. By the time the big man applied the G.B.H Driver, everyone was fairly sure they knew how things were going to end. Des tries his best to kick out of the pinfall, but Leroy applied a quick elbow to the crotch while the ref wasn’t looking and pinned Davids as he writhed in pain. [B] Winner: Leroy (7:37) Rating: E[/B] As Leroy watches the dazed David’s being carted backstage by the ring crew (which, these days, consists of Huey Cannonball and Raphael), he calls for a mike and addresses the audience. “Yo Davids,” Leroy yells at the figure departing behind the curtain. “Is dat what you’d be callin’ a touchdown?” The big man proceeds to perform a crude imitation of Des Davids dance in the middle of the ring, then laughs uproariously as he makes his way back into the locker room. [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] Flemmy and Ben Williams have been working the announce table for the last match, but as Leroy heads backstage their attention turns to their forthcoming bout. Ben starts talking about his talents as one of the greatest young writer/wrestlers of his age, drawing a series of barbed comments from Flemmy regarding his lack of in-ring talent. The two of them trade insults back and forth for a few minutes as they head backstage to get ready for their match. [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 2: Flemmy Lemming vs. Ben Williams[/B] It comes as no surprise to anyone that Flemmy owns this match, putting together a sequence of holds that rapidly turns Ben into a human pretzel. Ben continues to struggle against his technically adept, living up to his “Bump Machine” nickname as he endures the best that Flemmy can throw against him. In the end it’s tenacity and ability to endure an astonishing amount of punishment that gives Ben Williams the win, hitting his newly minted Supernova Senton finisher out of no-where after suffering a series of three brutal belly-to-back suplexes in a row. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (5:57) Rating: F[/B] [B]Card Summary[/B] Raphael defeated Lion Heart and TJ Bailey Leroy defeated Des Davids Ben Williams defeated Flemmy Lemming [B]Overall Rating: E[/B]

[arwink]

[B][SIZE="2"]Thursday, Week 2, March 2006 Night of the Warlord Location: Ben William’s Garage Attendance: 11[/SIZE][/B] Raphael is waiting in the ring, getting ready for his first match. He notices the small group of female fans we’ve accumulated over the last couple of weeks, and takes a few moments to explain why their favourite wrestler Nomad won’t be appearing. (Of course, given that only half the number of women are present and his name wasn’t on the flyers, this may not be news to them). “The scruffy ruffian refused to show up to tonight’s show,” Raphael bragged. “It is because he knows that the golden grappler, the idol of millions, Raphael is here to take care of you pretty ladies in his absence. Surely I am sexier than he is, non?” [B]Rating: F[/B] [B]Dark Match: Lion Heart vs. Raphael vs. TJ Bailey[/B] Raphael took control of the match early on and never really looked back, frequently holding off the combined offence of both Lion Heart and TJ Bailey as they attempted to team up and find a chink in Raphael’s offence. After nearly ten minutes it becomes apparent that there isn’t one, and Raphael rolls up TJ Bailey and pins him using a fistful of tights. [B]Winner: Raphael (11:46) Rating: F[/B] This week we start the show with Des Davids putting over his upcoming match with Leroy. “They call Leroy the East-Side Assassin,” Davids says. “I just call him the thing between me and a touch down. It takes more than size to scare me, Assassin. I used to go through guys twice you size when I was playing football. You aren’t going to be able to stop me any better than they could.” [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 1: Des Davids vs. Leroy[/B] Des David’s started this match going for the quick victory, charging into the ring and hitting Leroy with a spear and a suplex powerslam. The crowd actually gave a small pop when they realized how easily the ex-footballer was throwing around the heavyweight. Davids plays to the crowd, performing the same quick celebratory dance he used to give when he scored a touchdown. Unfortunately this gives Leroy enough time to recover and ensures that David’s has seen his last decent offensive for the entire match. Leroy hammers him with a flurry of stiff forearm shots onto Davids for nearly five minutes. By the time the big man applied the G.B.H Driver, everyone was fairly sure they knew how things were going to end. Des tries his best to kick out of the pinfall, but Leroy applied a quick elbow to the crotch while the ref wasn’t looking and pinned Davids as he writhed in pain. [B] Winner: Leroy (7:37) Rating: E[/B] As Leroy watches the dazed David’s being carted backstage by the ring crew (which, these days, consists of Huey Cannonball and Raphael), he calls for a mike and addresses the audience. “Yo Davids,” Leroy yells at the figure departing behind the curtain. “Is dat what you’d be callin’ a touchdown?” The big man proceeds to perform a crude imitation of Des Davids dance in the middle of the ring, then laughs uproariously as he makes his way back into the locker room. [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] Flemmy and Ben Williams have been working the announce table for the last match, but as Leroy heads backstage their attention turns to their forthcoming bout. Ben starts talking about his talents as one of the greatest young writer/wrestlers of his age, drawing a series of barbed comments from Flemmy regarding his lack of in-ring talent. The two of them trade insults back and forth for a few minutes as they head backstage to get ready for their match. [B]Promo Rating: D[/B] [B]Match 2: Flemmy Lemming vs. Ben Williams[/B] It comes as no surprise to anyone that Flemmy owns this match, putting together a sequence of holds that rapidly turns Ben into a human pretzel. Ben continues to struggle against his technically adept, living up to his “Bump Machine” nickname as he endures the best that Flemmy can throw against him. In the end it’s tenacity and ability to endure an astonishing amount of punishment that gives Ben Williams the win, hitting his newly minted Supernova Senton finisher out of no-where after suffering a series of three brutal belly-to-back suplexes in a row. [B]Winner: Ben Williams (5:57) Rating: F[/B] [B]Card Summary[/B] Raphael defeated Lion Heart and TJ Bailey Leroy defeated Des Davids Ben Williams defeated Flemmy Lemming [B]Overall Rating: E[/B]

[BuddyGarner]

I tried to do a diary like this but I didn't have enough time. Even used a lot of the same wrestlers. Well, here's to playing a backyard fed vicariously through you.

[BuddyGarner]

I tried to do a diary like this but I didn't have enough time. Even used a lot of the same wrestlers. Well, here's to playing a backyard fed vicariously through you.