Joey Minnesota: the Rise to Greatness

[Nightshadeex]

Joey Minnesota: The Rise to Greatness. My name is Joey Minnesota. I’m 22 years old, and hail from the Tri-State area. I’ve been working for NYCW since my debut in the wrestling world. All I’ve ever heard from people is praise on how good I am for being so young. But no one except for NYCW and the occasional feeler from USPW want to give me a job. Well, I’m not going to take it anymore, I’m going straight to the top of this business, and I don’t care what it takes. I want to make it to the top and I don’t care if it’s the SWF, TCW, or BHOTWG… I will be the greatest wrestler on the planet. Initial Stats: Overness (USA): 40 Fighting Spirit: 30 Power: 50 Technique: 60 Speed: 55 Stamina: 70 Toughness: 70 Charisma: 50 Microphone: 50 Looks: 55 Respect: 50 Psychology: 97 Safety: 92 A call with my agent set me up with three jobs and a tryout. I’ll be working for NYCW, USPW, CZCW, and I have a tryout with DaVE. I have to travel to Tennessee today though, as my first match is tonight with USPW.

[Nightshadeex]

Monday, Week 1, June 2005, USPW Psycho Circus. Before the show, I found myself in the locker room with some of the names in USPW. I figured this first show would be the time for me to make myself known. I had decided to go up to Flex and talk a little smack. I simply told him I was going to go out and steal the show tonight and he attacked me! So I fought back against the chump and clearly won the fight. I guess I picked the right guy to pick a fight with, as afterward, people looked at me with respect. I left to go find out who I would be facing tonight and ran into Captain USA. He said that I was lucky enough to be given a shot at the World Title today. He asked if I knew who held the belt, and I nodded. Tonight, I was getting a shot against Captain USA himself. I was in for the night of my career… Joey Minnesota vs. Captain USA (USPW World Title) USA started the match with two minutes of non stop offense. I was finally able to take control and started to work the legs. However, my advantage didn’t last long, as USA went on another spree of attacks, keeping me on the ground and taking punishment. One mistake was all it took for me to get back on top though. And I took advantage of that mistake to put USA on the ground and work on his legs. The advantage kept going back and forth, but by the 13 minute mark, USA was dead tired and in danger of being beat while I was still good to go. Sadly, this pushed USA back into the corner and he came out with all he had, taking control for the next four minutes, hitting me with an array of stomps and punches. I took an opportunity to throw USA to the floor and take advantage of him out there. He blocked my Uranage slam through a table, but I was able to hit both a snap suplex and a DDT onto a nearby chair. The referee warned me to keep it clean, so I rolled USA back into the ring and came in to a small comeback. USA blocked a few of my attempts at the Empire Spiral, frustrating me to a great level. We took it back to the floor where I finally hit the Empire Spiral. USA kept hitting piledriver after piledriver and busted me open at the 33 minute mark. After many attempts, I finally busted USA open with the seated dropkick at the 41 minute mark. The referee was taken down in an accidental collision off of an irish whip, I slid out to the floor and goaded USA to follow. We brawled out there for awhile until I dropped him on a chair with a DDT. The referee started getting up and I tried rolling USA into the ring, but he got a second wind and attacked, piledriving me through a table. We fought back into the ring, where blood loss really started to hurt us both. I tried to finish USA off with the Spiral, but he kept countering with punches to a face. Finally, I hit the Spiral at 63 minutes. One… Two… Kickout! So I picked USA up and hit it again. One… Two… Three! Here is your winner by pinfall at 64 minutes and new USPW World Champion, Joey Minnesota! Rating: C+

[Nightshadeex]

Tuesday, Week 1, June 2005. Well, the consensus in the USPW locker room is that Flex was an idiot to provoke me and that he got what he deserved. Bull Wrecker, Pecs, Corporal Doom, and Shane Sneer all are my friends now, while Flex hates me. Tonight is my tryout for Danger and Violence Extreme. I have the task of putting on a bloody war against Tank Bradley. It’s going to be a long night. Before the show I talked to some people in the locker room and it was fairly uneventful, except for Wolverine being a dick. Joey Minnesota vs. Tank Bradley (Cage, Escape only) 2 minutes in, Bradley is already tiring after hitting only one punch flurry. We went back and forth, trading long strings of maneuvers for several minutes. Neither of us could get an advantage, but the constant cage launches made us both tired and hurt me pretty badly. I tried to escape the cage, but Bradley pulled me off. I tried then to stop him and barely did. However, he was able to finally get over the top of the cage for the win. Here is your winner at 24 minutes, Tank Bradley! Rating: D

[Nightshadeex]

Week 1, June 2005 in review. I got a phone call from Phil Vibert. He said I just wasn’t what DaVE was looking for right now, but not to give up. I could try again in a few months if I wanted. I’ve won a match to win a World Title, and I’ve lost a match to a crappy tag wrestler in a bigger federation. Hopefully the next few weeks and the matches I’ll have will help me out. Tuesday this week I’m going to have a choice. The choices are either MoSC or WLW. Both are try out contracts though. Overness (USA): -1 (39) Spirit -1 (29) Friendship: Bull Wrecker, Corporal Doom, Pecs, Shane Sneer Hatred: Flex

[Nightshadeex]

Tuesday, Week 2, June 2005. WLW Hit Rock Bottom. In the back, I ran into a few familiar faces from the States. Hell Monkey and Brent Hill in particular were faces I was glad to see. Also there was CZCW Champion, Fox Mask. I shook his hand and introduced myself, as I was trying to get booked out there too. Joey Minnesota vs. Yosuke Oinuma The two of us started going back and forth with very quick paced action. In fact, the back and forth didn’t let up until much later on into the match when both of us were tiring out. I was able to hit the Empire Spiral and get the pin without much trouble. Here is your winner by pinfall at 16 minutes, Joey Minnesota! Rating: C

[Nightshadeex]

My first shot at the big time. Friday, Week 2, June 2005. TCW Total TFI Friday. I called TCW the day before and said I’d be in the area if they needed someone to fill in for a match. They said they’d keep that in mind and asked me to come down to the arena. In the locker room before the show I got to meet such greats as Sam Strong, Rip Chord, and Tommy Cornell. I kept my best foot forward and respected the greats, opting to get some tips from them. I then tried to start a conversation with Stevie Grayson and he started to brawl with me, which got separated before anything could happen. Joey Minnesota vs. Troy Tornado (Tables Match) I started the match out with the advantage, keeping it simple to stay on top, but one small mistake opened it up for Troy. He hit ten moves in a row before I got a chance to put any more offense in. I finally got a small flurry of offense in to wear Troy down a bit. He took over again, but I was able to get my shots in, thus making it more interesting than a one sided squash. 26 minutes in, we made it to the floor. Troy shoved the table into the ring and set it up, as we wrestled around it for a few minutes. I was finally able to gain enough advantage to send Troy through the table with a DDT. Here is your winner at 32 minutes, Joey Minnesota! Rating: C

[Nightshadeex]

Week 2, June 2005 in review. It looks like Yosuke Oinuma had some very kind words to say to Koji Kojima about me. And because of that, Kojima offered me a contract. The pay was terrible, but I wanted to get over in Japan, so I decided to take on a six month contract and hope to negotiate in the future. However, I wasn’t so lucky with TCW. It seems as if my brawl with Stevie Grayson only hurt my reputation backstage and Tommy Cornell said that there are no spots on the roster for me right now. Although, he did say I could try back again some time. Perhaps I should be nicer in the locker room. At least I got some good tips out of he and Rip Chord regarding psychology. Overness (USA): +3 (42) Overness (Japan): +3 (3) Respect: +2 (52) Spirit: +2 (41) Technique: +1 (61) Speed: +1 (56) Psychology: +2 (99) Toughness +1 (71) Friendship: Yosuke Oinuma Dislike: Kitahachi Sonoda Hatred: Stevie Grayson My schedule for next week looks to be easy, but still invigorating. Tuesday I’ll be back in Japan for WLW, Thursday will be NYCW’s monthly show, and Saturday will be CZCW’s monthly show.

[Nightshadeex]

Tuesday - Thursday, Week 3, June 2005. WLW Hit Rock Bottom. NYCW Deadlock. Well, no match for me Tuesday night… Instead I just get to talk to people in the locker room. No biggie, just branched out my networking skills. The big event was back in New York. Oh, how I missed New York. Tonight I would be main eventing against American Buffalo. He’s a powerful guy, so my strategy for tonight will be a little Dead Man Limpin’. I’m gonna take that lugs knees right out from under him and walk away the winner. I had a few words with my friends in the back. Just small talk mainly, but a couple tips on mic skills from Herb Stately. I’m hoping for an Empire Title shot next month, so I did a little sucking up to the Stomper. American Buffalo vs. Joey Minnesota Buffalo used his massive size advantage to basically crush me under his weight and strength. I could barely get any moves in, but when I did, you can be rest assured that they were shots to the knee. Just like my strategy said. 13 minutes in and I was near ready to be put away, while he was still in ok shape. Something had to be done to help me. I don’t know how I did it, but a string of moves came out of nowhere, taking him from ok shape to danger and he seemed to be sucking wind. I was able to reverse and block his moves easily now. I kept putting the figure four on the big man, but he always seemed to find his way out. The chop blocks I just learned really became a huge addition here. I was able to take the control and bloody Buffalo with a Tornado DDT from the corner. I was then able to slap on the Figure Four and surprisingly got Buffalo to tap. Here is your winner by submission at 31 minutes, Joey Minnesota! Rating: C+ That felt great! But what felt even better was that an agent from SWF was in the crowd and met me backstage after the show. He said that I’ve been impressing the right people and have been invited to Supreme Assault TV tomorrow night for a tryout. I was ecstatic.