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#76
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NYCW Brooklyn Brawl Live to DVD from The Ministry Saturday, Week 4, June Audience: 843 Pre-Show/DVD Extras Animal Harker, Dazzling Dave Diamond & The Atlantic Connection vs. Urban Insects & Natural Storm We’ve been getting a few complaints about guys not being used, so I threw this match out in the dark to make sure everybody got a chance to work the show. As you might expect from a match featuring four jobbers and Animal Harker it wasn’t the most entertaining bout we’ve ever seen, but it was a fun brawl that saw all eight guys get a couple of moments to shine, even if it relied an awful lot on double team spots to squeeze all eight guys into the six or so minutes of runtime it received. As for a finish, this went to a double count-out when all eight guys started brawling outside the ring- I’d have given it to the faces but I want to keep Natural Storm as strong as possible so they can challenge for the titles down the line. Winners: None Match Rating: D- Amber Allen vs. Eve Grunge As with the previous match, this was a chance to make sure everybody got in front of the crowd tonight, although this was a much stronger match. To be fair, though, Amber and Eve are a step ahead of the weaker end of the men’s match, and without a load of different guys to squeeze in Amber and Eve were able to put together a much stronger match. That’s not to say there weren’t problems, though- Amber’s psychology is terrible, leaving her with a tendency to throw spots in willy-nilly and completely lose the crowd. She’s a talented worker, though, and Eve’s a solid worker who’s fundamentals were pretty much strong enough to cover for the worst of Amber’s mistakes. It has to be said, though, that even with the worst psychology in the business Amber’s one of our finest workers, so she got the win here with Trapped in Amber (Chikara Special), her ostensibly unbreakable hold. Winner: Amber Allen Match Rating: D+ The Show Tamara McFly vs. Emma Bitch Let’s be honest here: Tammy’s run at the title is basically guaranteed unless she dies or goes to Japan full-time, so this match was all about getting her momentum up ahead of the finals at New York State of the Mind. It was still a good match, though, so I’ll have to look at potentially revisiting this one in the future depending on how the other match comes off (the tournament is as much about establishing who’s gonna be top heel as who’ll be champion). Emma’s a decent worker- okay, so her selling is lousy, but she’s a solid brawler and her charisma makes up for her weaknesses. As for Tammy, she’s been on tour with 5SSW this year and it’s done pretty amazing things for her ability- she was always good, but her fundamentals are up, she’s a sharper chain wrestler, her flying’s gone through the ceiling- basically, somebody hooked her up to a talent machine and left it running (or had her wrestle DEVIL Karube a bunch of times, but it amounts to the same thing). Story-wise, this was built around the usual power vs. skill dynamic, with Emma trying to outmuscle Tammy whilst the smaller woman fought back with technical skill and sheer speed, not to mention her considerable experience edge. In the end it was this edge that got her the win- Emma nailed her with the Payback (Short-Arm Lariat), but taunted the audience for too long before going into the pinfall, giving Tammy a chance to recover and roll her into an inside cradle of her own, securing the victory. Winner: Tamara McFly Match Rating: D+ * From there we cut to a music video hyping up NYSOM’s main event of Black Hat Bailey vs. Steve Flash. It’s your basic training montage stuff: Bailey works out in a very traditional-looking gym, sparring with other members of the Old School, lifting weights, going over strategy, that sort of thing; whilst Steve runs through central park and works out at home, all set to the sound of Def Leppard’s Hysteria. The reaction was pretty positive, we’ll have to look at revisiting this kind of line down the line. Rating: D * After the video we’re headed to the Promo Position, where Jen’s on hype duty for the main event “Since I arrived in NYCW, there’s been two big thorns in the side of The Old School: Steve Flash and The Sensational Singh. Oh sure, there’s half a dozen other guys in this company I don’t like- Ring Generals, those titles are going to be ours before long and you know it- but nobody else gets under my skin quite like you two do. So tonight, you’re going up against the best we’ve got. Steve, you’ve proved that you can hang with Black Hat Bailey- on a good day- but do you really think you’ve got the speed to match up with Cameron Vessey. And Singh, you like to play your little mindgames with Cam, and maybe they’ve gotten to him, but you don’t have a chance at getting inside the mind of a veteran like Bailey. Tonight is not your night, guys. Tonight is our night, because Old School Rules” Jen continues to bring the value on the mic. Rating: D+ * Golden Delicious vs. Ashley Grover Well that settles that then. This was a disappointing match, and given that neither Goldie nor Ashley are really what you’d call typical NYCW talent to begin with I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be revisiting Tammy/Emma down the line. Given that Goldie was brought in specifically to provide a big name heel (she’s a graduate of the Cat’s Lair and an ex-AAA star, which gives her a certain cachet), that makes it extremely unlikely that I’ll keep her once the tournament’s over- there’s hardly a shortage of decent female wrestlers out there, and as long as Emma’s around we don’t drastically need someone who can carry the top heel spot right out the gate. As for Ashley, she’s young and talented enough to keep her job, at least as long as she shows some improvement in her technical work and psychology over the next year or so. For now, though, she’s the designated face jobber, and she showed that tonight by taking the loss off a small package from Goldie. Winner: Golden Delicious Match Rating: D- * Marv Statler vs. The Masked Mauler This was pretty much what you’d expect from a singles match featuring Mauler: good, but nothing special. To be honest, that’s really his biggest drawback- as a tag wrestler Mauler’s a good hand but he’s just not engaging enough to work as a singles competitor. Given how good Rick is that may create problems down the line (depending on who becomes available for the main event down the line I might have to give Rick a singles run), but for now Old School Principals are pretty much our top heel team, and to be fair they do deserve to be. As for Marv, he’s a capable worker who could probably do a really good job against a stronger opponent, but at this stage in his career he’s not yet talented enough to cover for a more mediocre worker like Mauler. That made for a match that was extremely ordinary- though that’s not the same as bad- and mostly based around the interplay between Mauler’s more brawl-based style and Marv’s technical intensity. The end came when Jen got onto the apron to distract the ref. Marv went over to deal with her, but that gave Mauler a chance to roll him up, and a handful of tights gave Mauler a rare single victory. Winner: The Masked Mauler Match Rating: D * Dean Waldorf vs. Rick Sanders This was a step up on the previous match, largely because Rick’s one of our strongest wrestlers- I haven’t decided yet, and a lot depends on where the tag division is come August, but there’s a chance that the Principals will capture the titles then and we’ll launch a new face team to feud with them (I’ve got my eye on a couple of promising names at the moment). That’ll free the Generals up to pursue more singles matches; they’re still primarily a tag team but as capable individual wrestlers they’d be a big boost to the Tri-State division. Waldorf in particular would be a big help- his fundamentals are slightly behind Marv’s but he’s a little bit stronger as a wrestler, and in any case he’s got a lot of time to improve fundamentals that are really pretty good to begin with. He got the win here to balance out the previous match; Jen once again leapt onto the apron to distract the opposition, but this time when Rick went for a low blow Dean dodged and the blow caught Jenny in the midriff, knocking her back to the floor. Dean came back hard, nailing Rick with the Waldorf Salad Toss for the victory. Winner: Dean Waldorf Match Rating: D+ * From there we cut to the Promo Position, where Frank’s on hype duty for his match with Sammy the Shark “You and me, Sammy, we go back a hell of a ways. I used to be your mentor, but now? Now I think it’s fair to say we’re pretty much enemies. And tonight, tonight you’re just a bump in the road to the Empire Title. Sure, first I gotta deal with Whistler, and boy will I enjoy doing that, but it’s all about getting my hands on that title belt. So tonight, you better bring everything you have if you wanna beat me. Not that it’ll help- I’m better than you’ll ever be- but maybe if you bring your top game you’ll go the distance. After all, you learnt from the best, and I promise this will be a fair fight. “After all…Would I Lie To You?” Frank’s skill on the mic is the major reason he’s in line for the next top heel run. Rating: C- * From there we mix to Sammy getting ready for his match. As he heads out of the face locker room he runs right into Jennifer Williams “There you are Sammy, I’ve been looking for you” “The Locker Room’s right there Jen, it can’t have been that hard. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got a match so say your piece or get out” “Yeah, I heard, against Honest Frank too. Now, let’s be serious here, Sammy, what are your chances? Not good, I’d say. Sure you’re a talented worker, you’ve got a lot of potential, but Frank’s been around this business a long time, and when was the last time he fought fair?” “About the same as the last time The Old School did. Now what do you want?” “Okay, here’s the deal. You wanna win this one, right? So I’ll make you an offer. You sign on with The Old School, we’ll guarantee you a victory in this match. Heck, we can guarantee you wins in any match you want. So, what do you say?” “…I say cram it up your @ss. Now get lost” The whole point of this segment was to see if we could get Sammy’s mic work to improve. It didn’t show anything more tonight, but if we can keep this up then hopefully we’ll see something soon. Rating: D * Sammy the Shark vs. Honest Frank This was an odd match- both guys are capable of good matches against other people, but this one was kind of mediocre. To be fair, this might have been just a length thing, as I had this one go the full 15 minutes despite neither guy being in the main event (Frank’s slipped all the way down to the midcard and Sammy’s not much above him), but even so this was weirdly average. I mean, Frank’s one half of the best match we’ve ever had, and whilst I’d be the first to admit he’s no great worker his charisma and psychology should usually be good enough to get the rating up a bit. As for Sammy, I’m inclined to think his style is the problem- he’s a solid competitor but he’s an Entertainer and that’s not a style that meshes well with our crowd (too ‘sports entertainment’ I guess)- the only other Entertainer in the company is Singh, and he’s on another level from Sammy. In any case, whilst this match wasn’t a complete disaster it wasn’t a huge hit, and ended with a fairly standard Frank finish: distract the ref with a chair, nail Sammy with the Brass Knuckles and go for the pinfall. Winner: Honest Frank Match Rating: D * From there we’re headed to the Promo Position to hear from Whistler “Ever since you arrived in New York you’ve talked a real big fight Danny. You’ve got everyone running scared like you’re the big bad wolf, but you know what? Last month, you didn’t get it done. You lost, and you know what? Tonight you’re gonna lose too. Sure you’re tough and scary, but I ain’t known fear since I was sat on my momma’s knee and I ain’t gonna start now! No retreat! No Surrender! Do or die, make my stand! Tonight, Danny Rushmore, you’re going down! HOOOOOOOO!!!!” This was around Whistler’s usual level. Rating: D+ * Whistler vs. Danny Rushmore Retirement’s looming for Whistler but he’s going out in style: this was the best match he’s had all year. Most of that’s down to Danny, really; Whistler’s a popular guy and a good promo but he’s really not much cop in the ring and can’t reach a match of this quality off his own bat. Danny, on the other hand, is an extremely capable brawler with capable brawlers, even if he’s showing his age in the ring (who isn’t in this company, eh?). He probably deserves a more concerted push than he’s gotten from us- at the moment he’s theoretically the number two heel but at best he’s being pushed as number three behind Bailey and Frank, and there’s an argument that he’s number four behind Cam as well. Part of that is down to direction- his feud with Sammy’s yet to take off, and with Sammy’s push in question I’m still unsure where we’ll go next with this feud, whether to continue it into the second half of the year or wind it up and move Danny into something else. In any case, this was a heck of match, a wild brawl that saw The Mountain control the early going, only for Whistler to fire up as the match reached 10 minutes and take control. Unfortunately when he went for the Rebel Yell Danny pulled Bull in the way, taking the ref down. Whistler continued to fight on, but when Frank joined Rushmore in the ring it looked like that was it for the All-American Everyman. The tables turned once again, however, when Frank went for the knucks, only to hit Danny when Whistler got out of the way. One Rebel Yell to Frank later and Whistler was the last man standing in the ring. And when Michael Bull recovered from the Yell it was easy for Whistler to get the victory. Winner: Whistler Match Rating: C- * Steve Flash & The Sensational Singh vs. Black Hat Bailey & Cameron Vessey Okay, so this is now our best ever match. Which is good, but doesn’t exactly simplify matters when it comes to going forward- with Steve, Singh, Cam, Bailey, Danny, Frank, whoever replaces Whistler and maybe Sammy as well all scrapping for three or four main event slots we’re really top heavy at the moment and it’s making it difficult to find solid midcarders to fight for the tri-state title. Part of the problem is that Cam and Singh have gotten popular much quicker than I originally intended, and with Sammy struggling to maintain main-event levels of form everything’s kind of up in the air at the moment. Still, as long as we can keep delivering matches like this then I’m not too worried. Story-wise, this was a close-run affair, with neither side able to claim the advantage for very long: every time The Old School looked to have the upper hand Singh was able to lure Cam into an easy trap or unleash a well-timed suplex to even the score, whilst every time Steve and Singh had the upper hand Jen interfered to keep her team in the game. Gradually momentum started to swing in the direction of the heels, as Bailey dedicated his time to working over Singh and kept Cam on the apron where Singh’s mind games couldn’t get to him, whilst Jen kept the ref distracted whenever The Old School wanted a two-on-one advantage. It looked like it was all over for the faces as Bailey went to shoot Singh off the ropes to set up for the Backbreaker, but Singh managed to go over the top rope and activate a Texas Tag to his partner (much to Rock’s considerable glee- I swear, that guy will make me go deaf before the end of year). The heels tried to get the advantage back but all they did was book themselves into the Dropkick Hotel, leaving them reeling as Steve went to work like it was 1997 and he was the best in the world (as opposed to the best wrestler on the indy scene, which he still is). Jen attempted to interfere, but Singh took her out with the simple dint of snogging her senseless (my call: ‘Well, that’s certainly an unusual tactic!’). Cam did his best to hold up in the face of Steve’s assault but he didn’t have the experience to cope with the older man’s all-round ability, and he wound up eating the Flash Bang for the loss. Winners: Steve Flash & The Sensational Singh Match Rating: C Overall Rating: C-, keeping up our run of form. |
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#77
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Another show, another set of predictions. Let's see how they went this time:
Hashasheen: 4/7 Midnightnick: 3/7 Tiberious4: 4/7, and you'd be surprised how many of my ideas have come via Chikara (which is let's face it POW's obvious inspiration) Regis: 2/7 BHK1978: 3/7 Occasional_Z:3/7, and when will the next UJW update be up? MJStark:3/7 So, Hashasheen wins in an unusually low-scoring field, so the question's yours. Next post will be up Wednesday or Thursday- I'm out from about 8:30 BST to 11 o'clock at night tomorrow so I won't be anywhere near a computer |
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#78
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Whistler seems to have been the major spoiler, and it seems like most - hell, all - of us called the OSP vs. Generals matches wrong. This has been a show full of unexpected twists and turns - I look forward to the next backstage segment.
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#79
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With any luck, June's preview will be up tomorrow.
Got to say, my favourite part of this dynasty is Honest Frank's promos. They're true to his character yet have a serious 'main event' feel to them. |
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#80
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I knew Whistler wouldn't let me down.
I make no secret of my love of Chikara. The POW promotion is clearly based in large part of them and I blatantly ripped of the king of trios idea for my diary. |
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#81
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Question to Honest Frank: How do you feel, as a man who could once be safely described as the Tri-State King, to have fallen so low in NYCW?
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#82
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![]() “We’d had a good run of shows- Riots and Brooklyn had been real good stuff, and frankly since January we hadn’t had a really bad show- but the booking was getting kinda scrappy. The thing was, we were struggling to really establish who went where at the top of the card. Danny had come in and was having some great matches but wasn’t getting anywhere, and Cam and Kash were kinda drifting near the top of the card without ever really being certain where exactly they were position- top of the midcard, or bottom of the main event, y’know? Now, normally you deal with that by shifting people around, dropping somebody down a level or just letting guys go. Hugh’s approach was somewhat different…well, instead of letting guys go, he signed more.” *** ![]() Hugh shrugs apathetically “I just figured, what we needed was somebody to hold the midcard together. We had a whole crop of guys who could cross between the midcard and the main event- Singh, Cam, maybe Sammy if he could sort out his stylistic problems- but we didn’t have an anchor in the midcard, a guy who wouldn’t move around too much and who could kind of be that permanent back-up plan for the Tri-State title. My first choice was Al Coleman- sure, he had a reputation but it didn’t take a genius to figure he fitted with us like a glove- but his attitude was even worse than I’d heard and we couldn’t get a deal worked out. So I tried Casey Valentine, as I’d heard good things from Cam about his work, but he didn’t want to leave Rip- and I could see that, eh? It wasn’t a problem for me. No, the real problem was that I couldn’t get anyone on a reasonable deal. Darryl Devine, who I was looking at to balance out the face side of the roster, he wasn’t going for anything less than a merchandise percentage and guaranteed title runs, and I wasn’t having that at all. Primal Rage wanted more money than I was really looking to spend- he’s a good guy but not worth 8 or 900 a show- and Lee Bennett refused to leave Japan. In the end I was able to get Des Davids so we could round out the top line faces and Philippe LaGrenier to hold together the midcard but it wasn’t what I’d call an ideal situation” *** ![]() Philippe LaGrenier lounges in the studio, his laid-back attitude not all that different from how he appears on camera “I’d trained at The DeColt Power House, and I was aware that it didn’t have the best reputation. I mean, the DeColts had trained there and nobody disputed their talent, but other than that there wasn’t a real star trainee. Fred Garcia working Supreme but he hadn’t held a lot of titles or made a big impact, and a lot of people didn’t know where he’d trained anyway. So I figured, I go out, I work a bunch of different places, I can get the word out that way. And New York seemed like a good place to start because it had a lot of veterans I could learn from. Plus, of course, Steve Flash worked there. Any young Canadian wrestler who says he doesn’t want to work with Steve, you can tell them from me they’re a liar” *** ![]() “Phil had a really good attitude and was just a pleasure to work with. Des, on the other hand, he was out for himself and it showed- I’m not saying he wasn’t a useful guy, but he wasn’t by any stretch the best wrestler we had and yet he still wanted big money and guaranteed title runs. Ordinarily I could cope with that- we can always adjust our plans long-term- but Des would only sign for a year and that’s just not long enough to build to a title run. I still gave him the deal- what else could I do?- but we all knew Des probably wasn’t going to be a long term signing for us. To be honest, once I’d signed the deal I found myself wishing I hadn’t, but we needed a main event for Hudson River Hoedown and he was the only option. Looking back, it was a mistake, but hey, point is we recovered pretty well from it in the end.” *** ![]() “Hudson River was the go-home show before New York State of Mind, so we were real careful to make sure everything was set up to lead into the next month. Everything had to be set up to create a card for New York that felt important enough to stand as our big show, which okay wasn’t difficult with our storylines doing as well as they had been. The big problem, though, was Whistler- we knew he’d be retiring soon, but we weren’t sure exactly when and that meant we had to plan an escape route if he retired before August. Other than that, it was a pretty easy card to put together, at least on paper” *** Card for NYCW Hudson River Hoedown FOR THE NYCW EMPIRE TITLE Des Davids vs. Black Hat Bailey © Steve Flash vs. Honest Frank Whistler vs. Cameron Vessey The Sensational Singh vs. Danny Rushmore FOR THE NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE Sammy the Shark © vs. Philippe LaGrenier The Atlantic Connection vs. Old School Principals NYCW WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT PLAY-OFF Amber Allen vs. Golden Delicious |
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#83
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I like the backstage stuff you've got rolling here, probably because PPPW was one of my favourite diaries, well... ever. I might not predict very much but I'm definitely reading along.
My only objection is to describing 40 psychology as terrible. Of course it's largely a matter of opinion and I love Amber *looks at avatar*, but for a 22 year old, 40 psychology isn't shabby at all, and I certainly wouldn't associate it with throwing in spots left and right. It's not great, but it's at least a decent grasp of working through a match. Your average spot monkey has sub-30 psychology. |
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#84
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Des Davids vs. Black Hat Bailey (c) for the NYCW Empire Championship
Steve Flash vs. Honest Frank Whistler vs. Cameron Vessey The Sensational Singh vs. Danny Rushmore Sammy the Shark (c) vs. Philippe LaGrenier for the NYCW Tri-State Championship The Atlantic Connection vs. Old School Principals Amber Allen vs. Golden Delicious |
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#85
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Des Davids vs. Black Hat Bailey (c) for the NYCW Empire Championship
Not on his debut Steve Flash vs. Honest Frank Flash will challenge Bailey again Whistler vs. Cameron Vessey Not just yet... The Sensational Singh vs. Danny Rushmore Rushmore should win Sammy the Shark (c) vs. Philippe LaGrenier for the NYCW Tri-State Championship The Shark retains The Atlantic Connection vs. Old School Principals Squash Amber Allen vs. Golden Delicious Guess, don't know much bout either |
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#86
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FOR THE NYCW EMPIRE TITLE
Des Davids vs. Black Hat Bailey © Unless Black Hat Bailey is surprise retiring on us I don't see it. Especially not to Des. Steve Flash vs. Honest Frank I like Frank, but I think Flash needs the win to move on to challenging Bailey. Whistler vs. Cameron Vessey Whistler has never let me down. The Sensational Singh vs. Danny Rushmore Danny needs a win to really establish himself as a top guy. FOR THE NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE Sammy the Shark © vs. Philippe LaGrenier I don't think Sammy is ready to move up to the main event, so I don't see a real reason for him to drop the title here. The Atlantic Connection vs. Old School Principals Seems like a pretty one sided match NYCW WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT PLAY-OFF Amber Allen vs. Golden Delicious Golden Delicious just has too silly of a name for me to see her as women's champion in a fed like NYCW. |
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#87
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FOR THE NYCW EMPIRE TITLE
Des Davids vs. Black Hat Bailey © Nope, sorry. No switch 'til NYSOM. Steve Flash vs. Honest Frank Push the contender. Whistler vs. Cameron Vessey Cammy needs to be strong - I predict Flash over Frank at NYSOM, then Cammy to challenge afterwards. The Sensational Singh vs. Danny Rushmore He really does need to win. FOR THE NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE Sammy the Shark © vs. Philippe LaGrenier No shock debut switch. The Atlantic Connection vs. Old School Principals JOBBERS! NYCW WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT PLAY-OFF Amber Allen vs. Golden Delicious Why not? |
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#88
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FOR THE NYCW EMPIRE TITLE
Des Davids vs. Black Hat Bailey © Steve Flash vs. Honest Frank Whistler vs. Cameron Vessey The Sensational Singh vs. Danny Rushmore FOR THE NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE Sammy the Shark © vs. Philippe LaGrenier The Atlantic Connection vs. Old School Principals NYCW WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT PLAY-OFF Amber Allen vs. Golden Delicious |
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#89
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Quote:
Show should be up tomorrow or Wednesday depending on workload, but consider this the 24 hour warning, complete with fan question! This one's from Hashasheen Question to Honest Frank: How do you feel, as a man who could once be safely described as the Tri-State King, to have fallen so low in NYCW? Honest Frank: Who says I've fallen low? I'm still the best this company has. Okay, so maybe not every match went the way I'd want it to, but believe you me that won't last forever. I'll train hard, study my opponents matches and avoid all shortcuts or foul play. After all...you know the rest. |
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#90
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Card for NYCW Hudson River Hoedown
Couple of wacky predictions, but gotta' pick the zags over the zigs every so often. FOR THE NYCW EMPIRE TITLE Des Davids vs. Black Hat Bailey © - DQ Steve Flash vs. Honest Frank Whistler vs. Cameron Vessey - Whistler's OLDDDDDDDDD The Sensational Singh vs. Danny Rushmore FOR THE NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE Sammy the Shark © vs. Philippe LaGrenier - Not likely, but wth. The Atlantic Connection vs. Old School Principals NYCW WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT PLAY-OFF Amber Allen vs. Golden Delicious |
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