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Greatness Reborn
December 3, 2019
Authored by Jeff Esiason
Hello, everyone. This is Jeff Esiason here to provide you with your first official summarized results of Premier Wrestling Incorporated. Before I begin, let me make a quick comment about what landed me in this post-event analysis position. As you may know, I have a long history with Mmouse Enterprises. My career here started about 20 years ago. I – for quite some time – used to periodically call the matches of USWA and then UWA alongside Jim Ross. Then, Mickey and I had a disagreement about my contract which led me to jump ship to HCW during the Fourth Era wherein I joined my good friend Tom Banks in calling the incredible action there.
I was saddened when that era came to an end, because the HCW reminded me of everything that I loved about this company in its USWA days. Still, I came back here 8 years ago and was sidelined the whole time during the Fifth Era. I was stunned when I was initially offered the spot to return to Jim Ross’s side to call the matches of PWI once again until I found out that it was because Mickey did not want to hear Lenny or Vinny broadcasting, nor did he want Ross doing it alone. I complained to the Board about me not being chosen for my experience, but because I was a last resort. So, they demoted me to this current position.
Even so, I’m not going to sulk about this turn of events. Rather, I am going to straighten myself up and push forward like a professional. I’m going to analyze this company like it’s nobody’s business. So, with that said, here we go:
The Opening Day of PWI kicked off with “Greatness Reborn” on November 30th, 2019. It was just over a month earlier than the original announced launch date, and it was done intentionally to stick it to our competitors up North. In the opening video package we hear Mickey’s familiar voice doing a set of renditions – first singing “what the world needs now…is love, sweet love” only to break out into sadistic laughter and then branching off into his own twisted version of “Seven Nation Army” as he insisted that he was set to use this night to “reclaim the throne that was stolen from me” and that he was going to “come back” by showing his doubters that they are “idiots” – all before the official video gets kicked off welcoming us to this card. It was a true testament to how our deposed former leader has truly lost his damn mind.
In the opening bout, we had the most controversial match in recent memory – controversial only because of the fact that it used to be an inter-gender match until public outrage compelled the Board to ban inter-gender wrestling for good in the PWI -;
Extreme Battle Royal (Elimination occurs over the top rope, through pinfall, submission, or when a participant is busted open; starts with four participants, and each new participant comes in as one is eliminated) for the Immunity Championship, featuring: X-Pac, Test, Taz, Randy Savage, Mr. Kennedy, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jon Moxley, Marty Scurll, Drew McIntyre, Matt Taven, Johnny Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, The Miz, Cesaro, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, Ken Shamrock, Triple H, and a Mystery Participant.
The match surprisingly took about an hour to unfold, but it never skipped a beat. The chaos was seemingly never-ending, and it felt just like the good old days of USWA during the classic “Rumble” matches. In some instances, certain participants would enter only to be quickly taken out, while at least a plurality of stars remained for about a couple minutes. Out of everyone, the show-stealing performance of the match (dare I say; the night) came from Cesaro, who was the VERY FIRST entrant in the battle royal. Cesaro almost snuck his way into surviving the first half of the chaos, but then gradually worked his towards a dominating performance, eliminating more superstars than anyone else. One of the best spots of the night came when Cesaro eliminated the Miz (in under two minutes) by superplexing him from inside the ring through a table on the outside (Cesaro wasn’t eliminated, though, as he stepped through the ropes to perform the move)! Remarkably, Cesaro survived through to the end. He eliminated Triple H and everyone had concluded that he won…until Brock Lesnar’s music hit! The reinvented Lesnar stormed into the ring and decimated Cesaro with a series of German and overhead belly to belly release suplexes. Lesnar went for the F5, made a cover, but Cesaro kicked out! The fans erupted as their “Cesaro” chants elevated once again. They believed Cesaro would beat Lesnar, even after such a draining performance! Cesaro fought back, but Lesnar brought in the use of a weapon, something which this beast absolutely never needed. Lesnar propped up a chair in the middle of the ring, and then unleashed one final F5 for a successful one…two…three! New Immunity Champion: Brock Lesnar, may God help us all.
Cameras took us to the back, where we see Lawrence Mason standing next to the Co-Vice Chair of Mmouse Enterprises/Commissioner of Legends: Catherine Mouse. Mason asked Mouse for an update on the controversy surrounding Teo, his controversial remarks about the late-Terry Austin, the lawsuit from the Austin family, and her ultimatum that Teo apologize publicly tonight. She noted her frustration with Teo not responding to her since this all began and promised that he will live to regret this night should he not comply.
Back to the ring, and we get the introduction of the two participants for our next bout: Kurt Angle v. “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
Just as the two stars are about the square off, Michael Buffer informs the audience that this match is officially now a qualifying bout for the prestigious “Premier Athlete Tournament Roulette”! You could immediately tell that both men recognized the sudden elevation of the match’s importance. This was no longer a fun exhibition match, this was now a shot at breaking out of a crowded field of 64 male superstars with a chance to determine their own destiny! As had been previously expected, the match gave the audience a lot of great moments. Daniels had the chance to show the world that he is to be taken seriously, but the 20 year veteran Angle pulled through and secured the victory, moving on to the Quarterfinal Round!
Cameras take us back to Lawrence, who is quickly joined by a rebellious and ever-so-cocky Teo. Teo laughs off the threats of being punished for not apologizing, even adding on to his controversial remarks about Terry Austin. He assures Mason that NOTHING will stop him from becoming champion tonight as he promised that he will be the first PWI champion of the new era!
When we return to the ring we find that those in control have AGAIN forgotten about the women (notice a pattern?) as they skipped ahead to the next men’s match initially in announcing this bout. Fortunately, someone is reminded of the order of business, which results in a proper introduction of how the show is going to unfold.
Number One Contendership for Women’s Championship: Gauntlet Match featuring Ariel, Molly Holly, Maria, Layla, Ivory, Michelle McCool, Stephanie McMahon, Sable, and Sunny
These nine women had originally been the experimental cattle offered up for sacrifice in the aforementioned controversial Extreme Battle Royal (can you imagine if the plans had not been changed and if we had a situation where Sunny had to meet Brock Lesnar?!!). The consolation prize for removing these women from that high-stakes match was to give them a similar match with even higher stakes. After all, how much higher can the stakes get for women than a shot at the Women’s gold? Like the Extreme Battle Royal, this match saw a new entrant come in with each successive elimination. Unlike that Battle Royal, elimination only occurred through pinfall and submission, and we started out with two women. Stephanie McMahon – a former Women’s Champion in her own right – surprisingly dominated much of the match after she entered part of the way through. Sunny did her best to hold up her own – defeating some expectations, no doubt (true story: she is actually much better in the ring than her looks would suggest, and proved as much during her UWA and PWI stints in the past) – and Sable was eliminated a little faster than I had thought she would be. In the end, though, it was Ariel (a former dominant women’s champion) who rose above the rest to claim the number one contender’s spot.
The production truck allows a clean up in the ring to commence as they show the audience in the arena and at home a trailer for the upcoming premiere of “Ascendants”. That should be good stuff. It will be short and sweet, and a proper showcase of the up and coming talent of PWI.
Back to the ring once again and we are met with the introduction of our next match: Brandon Lee v. Rob Van Dam
I’ve been watching both men closely since their days involved in the infamous Allegiance Invasion of USWA which spanned from late-2001 until the USWA sang its Swan Song in September 2002. Back then, Lee was part of the hottest tag team in the business alongside his brother Sean Olson – representing John Brown’s HCW – while Rob Van Dam had come to the USWA from the land of ECW. They have not lost a step in their skills over the past 18 years and this match demonstrated why the two former world champions continue to be top picks for the Mmouse Enterprises powers that be. Rob Van Dam and Lee displayed all of the crowd favorite spots in this back and forth display. It was not clear who had the upper hand throughout until Lee hit – in classic Brandon Lee fashion – his patented “Spin to the End” to seal the deal. After the match, though, Lee took his victory a little too far as he relentlessly pummeled his beaten opponent. I have never believed that Lee needed Olson to be relevant, as he has always been overlooked in favor of his more coveted and slightly more talented brother, but I could see once again how his treatment by the industry has driven him to the point of madness.
Another clean-up break as we see a trailer for Asylum’s premiere next Monday, but then we are back to the ring when we suddenly hear Mickey’s familiar “M…I…C…K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-EEEEE”. The OTHER Co-Vice Chair makes his way to the ring with a mysterious new enforcer (whom he calls the “New Enforcer”, because Mickey doesn’t care to learn or remember the names of people around him). Mickey calls for his trusted “Business Man” Harry Puddphucker to come down to the ring with the results of his investigation as to whom is the mystery 24% Shareholder. Puddphucker makes way for the ring – looking cleaned up and more built than when we last saw him, with a brand new suit – and tells Mickey that he found out who was behind this mess. Mickey increasingly feels frustrated as Puddphucker dances around the issue and welcomes the Catherine Mouse out to the ring as well as Chairman Murrey, all because “they would like to hear this too”.
With everyone in the ring, Harry revisits the past involving Catherine and a certain famous superstar she once had a secretive affair with, an employee who had an equally famous bad relationship with “the boss”. He then – all the while Mickey and Murrey to some extent are getting ever more irritated as they demand a “point” to this story – delves into how that affair reportedly produced a pregnancy which Catherine later told the superstar in question resulted in an abortion (which she claimed five years after the fact). Harry noted how he had encountered and soon adopted a young girl in need around 2014, only to find out that she had very famous parents; which he confirmed through DNA testing (the details of how he came about the DNA were not offered). It was then that he noted that Catherine lied to Blaster about the abortion of his daughter, that he – Harry – had adopted her, and that (as her guardian and legal proxy) he purchased the shares at issue! He then welcomed Catherine and Blaster’s daughter – Jacqueline “Jackie” Louise Mouse (Bladwick) – to the ring! The young lady made her way out to the squared circle, with much resemblance to her mother, and shortly thereafter Blaster’s music hit as the crowd erupted and the former thorn in the Mouse Family side angrily strutted to the ring. Blaster entered, stared at his daughter, and was soon compelled to share in a hug with her.
Harry and Jackie left, leaving Catherine, Mickey, the “New Enforcer”, and Blaster in the ring. Blaster was visibly angry. Angrier than he had ever been. Mickey – stunned, obviously, but reading the moment for what it was – tried to make light of the situation by noting that Blaster’s daughter will always have a little bit of Mickey in her. To that, Blaster responded that he could say the same about Mickey’s daughter Catherine. Mickey instantly grew outraged, charged after Blaster, received a stunner, and then the “New Enforcer” rushed to save Mickey…with the same result. As Mickey and New Enforcer laid on the mat, Catherine apologized to Blaster, trying to find her way out of the atrocious deceit she offered ten years ago. Blaster scolded her for lying, flipped her off, hit the stunner and then marched out of the ring like the outlaw he has always been!
We head back to the back with Lawrence Mason again, who is now standing by with the Chairman, Jeff Murrey. Murrey looks a little stunned by the insanity of what just happened, but Mason directs him to address Catherine’s threat against Teo. Murrey notes that he and Catherine had come to an agreement on how to handle Teo if he hadn’t apologized publicly by now, and they agreed that as a result of Teo’s refusal to comply, he will now be removed from the Six Pack Challenge! Murrey then subsequently unveiled that the winner of Robby Storm and Jeff Hardy would replace Teo in the PWI Championship match!!
Back in the ring, we hear Michael Buffer announce the participants for this newly-prestigious match-up: Robby Storm v. Jeff Hardy (Winner replaces Teo in Six Pack Challenge)
As one might imagine, these two men took each other to the limit. With a shot at the world title hanging over their heads, they gave it their all. Robby – despite some of the complaints about him by at least one particular analyst (looking at you, Mr. Hyatt) – is a very talented athlete…actually way more talented than his famous, monotone father: Lance. Robby experienced some close calls throughout this si-saw exchange which easily qualifies for match of the night in many respects. However, the more experienced and apparently hungrier Hardy capitalized on a fast-paced sequence of events which resulted in the one-two-three!!
Hardy, however, had no time to rest, as the next match was swiftly introduced: Six Pack Challenge; PWI Championship, featuring Jeff Hardy, Attitude, Scott Nash, Drakus, Petey Williams, and Rhyno
What a war this one was! Despite Jeff Hardy having barely scraped by in a fast-paced bout with Robby Storm, he truly performed at 110% here! He and Petey Williams entranced the audience as they battled one another and warded off the other four men. Scott Nash demonstrated why he remains a force to be reckoned with even after being in the business for 23 years as he powerhoused his way through each of his opponents. Nash’s primary target (except for the PWI Gold, of course) was Rhyno; his former chief foe in the HCW following their storied rivalry during that organization’s incredible NWO reinvention. The man-beast had his moments of domination off and on throughout the match as well. Drakus – another alum of HCW as well as USWA and the LWF in addition to being the protégé of Keeper – looked as though he was going to steal the gold out from under everyone. The man has been in this business for 21 years and continues to compete at an incredible level which suggests that he is younger than what he is. We even had a few moments where he paid homage to his mentor of old by nailing a handful of brutal Keeper Slams! Then, we had Attitude. In lieu of his biggest rival, Teo, Attitude stood out for many watching in the arena and at home as the favorite to win the match. There were definitely quite a few close calls as he drilled a couple of his opponents with some surprise “Attitude Adjustment” knee strikes. With the insanity of the bout eventually leaving Attitude and Hardy standing alone (yes, Hardy was proving to be quite resilient…just like Cesaro earlier in the night), the two of them appeared poised to crown the winner, but then the fun was soon interrupted by Teo! Teo rushed into the ring, attacked everyone standing, nailed the “Fall From Grace” and then placed Attitude and Hardy in a double-pinning predicament as two of the officials counted to three! When it was all said and done, the two officials who counted had consulted Buffer and informed him that the match was a NO CONTEST, therefore no one would walk away as PWI Champion! Teo – smiling ear to ear, and loving the “bullshit” and “asshole” chants – laughed all the way to the back.
To enable the crew to clean up the mess, we see a trailer for Catherine’s “Legends”, which premieres on December 16th!
Back to the ring, and we see that the mess has been cleaned and the Cell erected – complete with a barbwire mesh on the entrance side of the cell – as we prepared for our historic main event: Women’s Championship; Total Anarchy Match, featuring Victoria, Amazon, Angelina Love, and Living Dead Girl
Almost once the bell rang the insanity began, with poor Victoria taking the lead as the whipping post/rag doll. Amazon did what she could to control the match, but the leading story here was Living Dead Girl’s (LDG from this point forward) obsession with Angelina Love. LDG developed this obsession in the original PWI run as she chased Love as Champion, but it was renewed at From Dusk Til Dawn, when LDG cleaned house with the rest of the talent in her pursuit for revenge, especially after she was eliminated. Love fought back, looking more like someone trying to survive than trying to win the gold, but she put up quite the fight. Amazon snuck in quite a few stand-out moments, and poor Victoria found herself tangled in the barbwire mesh for most of the match. Ultimately, it was clear that this was a battle between the female phenom and her chosen victim: Angelina. The two battle it out – using all sorts of weapons, including the barbwire mesh which Victoria was now calling her new home – and nearly killed each other as the time wound down. Then, as the match counted down in its final seconds, LDG held Love up by the throat with one hand until the bell rang. When the final tally of falls was announced, this was the result = Victoria had 2, Amazon had 6, Love had 10, and LDG had 11. Some people watching may have been confused by this outcome, because they didn’t see five falls for LDG clearly, but the official failed to immediately reveal to Mr. Buffer that LDG had apparently fractured Love’s nose at one point, which resulted in the five falls as per the “Bone Break Rules” part of the match.
Before the credits rolled, Chairman Murrey presented LDG with her new Women’s Championship as she stood over Love holding the belt up high for the world to see!
What a night! I will catch you next time in the first summarized results of Ascendants and Asylum!!
The First Month of PWI Reborn
Welcome back, everyone, to the second edition of my chore…I mean, job. I am Jeff Esiason and I have been given the assignment to summarize what happens in PWI on a bi-weekly to monthly basis for those of you too damn lazy to watch the events for yourself. Bear with me, because we have a lot of ground to cover. Behold, the first month of PWI Reborn!
ASCENDANTS (12/7/19)
We started things off with a match between Scorpion and Aleister Black. These two men were almost evenly matched throughout their showdown, but Black ultimately conquered Scorpion with his mastery of foot work…including that finisher of his, the Black Mass.
In the Spotlight Interview, Allie talked about her lifelong fandom, how she grew up a fan of Amazon, and how it would be an honor to wrestle her. She mentioned that while she is ready for any challenge, it was acknowledged that a women’s division led by Living Dead Girl is going to be tough to climb on top of.
In the main event, Emma and Ivelisse had one of the best matches of the era so far. The two demonstrated that they are equally capable of carrying themselves on the main roster. In the end, Emma applied her Emma Lock submission finisher to pick up the victory.
ASYLUM (12/9/19)
In the opening bout of Mmouse Enterprises’s first Monday show since 2014, we saw a ladder match to crown our new PWI Tag Team Champions between five established tag teams: Guerreros, Hardys, TNT, YMCA, and a new team in the Storms. Robby Storm stood up his father Lance and Taz turned on Triple H. The Hardys seemed poised to become the clear new favorites in lieu of an united TNT – which was once the most dominant tag team in this company -, but the Guerreros proved to be far more forceful than anyone could have thought. YMCA was surprisingly out of the running for much of the match, as they took many beatings outside of the ring, far away from the championships. There were even periods during the match when Lance looked like he would actually capture the championships on behalf of him and his son, despite all the odds against him. Ultimately, the Guerreros came out on top, becoming the new champions.
Lance confronted his son Robby in the back. Robby noted that he never wanted to be in this match and that he didn’t count this as a loss, because it didn’t exist to him…just like his father Lance.
In the next bout we find Mark Henry taking on Kane. Kane had been mysteriously described as being “on a roll” by Mr. Hyatte. I’m not sure what Hyatte has been smoking, but Kane has actually had a terrible 2019 by my assessment. He lost the Callaway Bowl to Soultaker, finishing second in the most brutal match of that night. Aside of looking like he is in the best shape of his life, Kane has little to celebrate about. This match was no exception. Yes, Kane put forth quite an effort, but Henry – who also looks better than ever – had his number. After Mark defeated Kane the lights suddenly go out. When they come back on Bray Wyatt is standing behind Henry laughing like a crazy man. He tells Henry to run (which Henry ignores) and then after the lights flip on and off again, Wyatt does a variation of what he calls the Sister Abigail on Henry. With Kane (unmasked during the match) looking on from the corner, Wyatt upside spider crawls toward him. It is clear from all of this that Wyatt has his eyes on the Big Red Machine.
We then head into our Mixed Tag Team Match pitting Teo and Amazon against Attitude and Ariel. Just before the bell, Michael Buffer reveals that this is a Premier Athlete Tournament Roulette Qualifying Match. With such high stakes, I agree with Hyatte that this should have been the main event! Either way, once the surprise announcement is made, Teo becomes more aggressive as he suddenly cares more about this match (his first of the official era), even forcing Amazon out of the ring so he can go first (apparently, Teo didn’t trust Amazon to win it). The match tells this story about Teo looking for an escape from the purgatory that Catherine thrust him into at Greatness Reborn following his controversial remarks about Terry Austin. It was probably the best match of the night, but Teo wound up stealing it for his team by using his partner Amazon as a tool of distraction when he intentionally knocked her off the apron, which led the referee to be distracted as a steel chair exchange involving him and the other two participants unfolded, permitting Teo to hit a vicious Fall From Grace.
Next we have a non-title Triple Threat Match involving the Women’s Champion Living Dead Girl taking on Victoria and Angelina Love. The focus of this match was largely on the story unfolding between LDG and Love, but Victoria certainly did her best not to be ignored. Even so, LDG’s mission was to crush both women, with a special focus on Love. It was hard fought, but LDG came out on top…again choking Love out.
The Crock Show then returns! While Crock was woefully unprepared for the moment – claiming that the unveiling of Jackie Mouse at Greatness Reborn took any material he had -, he did a decent job of trying to interview Chairman Murrey (attempting to get to the bottom of how Murrey’s appointment was going to help the company). The interview, however, was abruptly interrupted by the Immunity Champion Brock Lesnar, who destroyed the set, crushed the Chairman, and obliterated Crock.
In the main event, we were set to crown the first EVER women’s tag team champions (in the industry!) in an open 20 woman battle royal! The match was good, and it produced some stars in the process. We saw Allie shine a bit and Emma made it to the end, but the sudden chemistry which appeared to emerge between Zevon Heaven and Dr. Britt Baker was what conquered the match as they coordinated an attack on Emma, eliminating her to make history in closing the show!
ASCENDANTS (12/14/19)
Ascendants returns with its second edition. In the opening bout, the newly crowned Women’s Tag Champions face off in a non-title match against the IIconics. This match was a good reminder of the talent of all four women involved. The IIconics were the first declared tag team in the women’s division, but even with their lifelong chemistry, Peyton and Billie were unable to top the skilled alliance of a Taste of Heaven as Britt Baker forced a tap out via her submission finisher, the LockJaw.
In the spotlight interview, Ken Shamrock introduced himself to an audience that was used to seeing his crazier and younger brother Frank. Frank retired at From Dusk Til Dawn, but Ken insisted that he still had much to prove. Among the things he hoped to do, as he told Lawrence Mason, was take on the Immunity Champion, Brock Lesnar!
In the main event, we see Randy Savage return to action for the first time since his HCW tenure (though, he was highlighted at From Dusk Til Dawn this year) as he took on the demented Doink the Clown. It was announced that this match was a Tournament Qualifying match and the pace picked up. Doink proved to be a far more formidable foe than anyone imagined he would. He actually dominated a significant portion of the bout, but Savage bounced back and had the crowd on their feet as he finished Doink with his patented Elbow Smash!
LEGENDS (12/16/19)
The show gets started with Chairman Murrey hosting a press briefing. Murrey reveals a number of important changes, as a response to recent ratings and critique. For starters, he reveals that the Extreme Battle Royals will be approached a little differently going forward so as to expedite the entry of participants and shorten the match. He changed the rules for the Immunity Championship – establishes what he calls the “Highlander Rule” and the “Cash-In Option” – and he unveils that there would be an additional way to challenge for the championship; an open four corner elimination hardcore match! This was connected to his bitterness about being among Lesnar’s latest victims a week earlier, but he tried to maintain some semblance of professionalism. Then, he unveiled that the Monday show schedule would change slightly to include a special six-match, PPV-caliber joint show every fifth Monday after returning from a break, called “Showcase”. More important announcements came after the briefing, but I won’t waste more time discussing that.
In the opening bout, one half of the Women’s Tag Champions, Zevon Heaven took on Michelle McCool. This was a decent display of the talent possessed by both women. McCool – a veteran of BWM Inc. employment – held her own, but Zevon reigned supreme, finishing the bout with a devastating maneuver off the top rope which sort of resembled a super flapjack. I’m told she calls that the Angel Falls.
In the next match, Jon Moxley and Dolph Zigger went toe to toe. This was a very good match with both men giving it their all. Ziggler proved worthy of great things as he transitions from working with BWM Inc. to working here, and Moxley demonstrated that he is as ruthless as they come. When it was all said and done, Moxley scored the victory, but before he could celebrate by exiting to the back, Lawrence Mason caught up with him to conduct an interview outside the ring. Everything was fine until Mason asked about Moxley’s unfaithful wife (who was revealed to be in an affair with Benny Mouse recently). Moxley then made Mason pay the price for this inquiry, beating the hell out of him!
With Mason hurt, we are left with E-Dawg (now insisting on being called Dr. Ducky Evil) as he interviews the newcomer Matt Taven. After arguing with Evil about whether or not Ducky is a “melvin”, Taven proclaims that he is going to introduce Rob Van Dam to his “kingdom” (which is what he calls the ring). In the match with RVD – which is announced as a tournament qualifying match -, Taven does surprisingly well. For a moment it looked as though Mr. Monday Night would rise to be the victor, but all of that changed when Taven blocked a number of RVD’s trademark moves and drilled RVD on the hardest part of the ring with a DDT. Taven then finished the match with his “Melvin Driver” inverted DDT.
In the back we see Teo and Petey Williams talking about Teo’s clever plan. Williams is resentful of how that plan screwed him over at Greatness Reborn as well, but Teo promises Williams a title shot when he becomes the first new PWI Champion of the era. Catherine enters the scene and demands to speak with Teo alone. She is upset that Teo exploited his connection with Mickey, the fact that he was on Mickey’s show, and the fact that only Mickey can remove one of his entries in the tournament. Teo laughed it off, mocked Catherine’s anger over the ordeal, took another jab at the deceased Terry Austin, and then promised that Catherine is far from done with having to deal with him.
More women’s tag team action as Molly Holly and Ivory take on Alexa Bliss and Carmella. The chemistry between the veterans Holly and Ivory was excellent whereas there was a power struggle between Bliss and Carmella. Holly and Ivory conquered Bliss and Carmella. Note: this performance by Holly and Ivory is what led to the decision to grant them a tag title shot against a Taste of Heaven on January 6th!
In the main event, we see a Triple Threat Match involving Petey Williams, Jeff Hardy, and Scott Nash, it is announced that this will be a tournament qualifying match and the insanity unfolds quickly. Each of these three men can easily be seen as the Premier Athlete of this industry, and they proved such during this incredible match. In the end, we see action taken to the rafters which towers about 30-35 in the air. Williams is dropped down to the floor by Nash from the rafter, and Hardy rises to the occasion. The fight continued from there up above, as Hardy attempts a mega Twist of Fate through the table. All three men wind up briefly out of commission until we see signs of life from Williams and Hardy. In conclusion, Williams nails an incredible Canadian Destroyer from the top rope through a table on Hardy to pick up the well-deserved victory!
ASCENDANTS (12/21/19)
In our opening bout, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura compete. This great bout between two of the most skilled stars in the business today was something to watch. Despite the inability of Ross and Venom to announce the finisher right, Cesaro nails his NEUTRALIZER to defeat Nakamura!
In the spotlight interview, Robby Storm tells Lawrence that he is fed up with being in Lance’s shadow. He expressed his resentment for always being the punch-line in Storm’s Third Era and Fourth Era promos, resented that his father was hardly ever there as he was growing up, and that he will be accomplishing great things that his father could never dream of, and that he would have rejected the tag titles that he never wanted if Lance had won.
In the main event, Ariel and Alundra Blayze square off. The women stole the show yet again. Alundra is one of the longest serving veterans of this industry, and her singles debut in the mainstream proved why she was such a great “get” this time around. Despite Blayze’s great performance, the number one contender for the Women’s gold – Ariel – came out on top!
THE SPOTLIGHT (12/28/19)
To kick off the last professional wrestling card of the decade, Ascendants Commissioner Slammu welcomed the crowd to the show and noted that he has been left in charge of determining which of the 8 matches will become tournament qualifying matches. Regardless of his reasoning for being in the ring, it is always good to see Slammu appear. The good old days.
In the opening bout, Taz and Samoa Joe compete in the first qualifying match of the evening. Taz recently underwent a personal transformation as he betrayed Triple H – setting up for a street fight between them when Legends returns -, but Samoa Joe was not to be overlooked here. Both men have similar fighting styles and are equally ruthless when they want to be. Ultimately, after quite the struggle, Taz pulled it off with the Tazzplex.
In the next match, we saw Paige and Maria face off. Paige – as noted by commentary – was a sensation in the UK indie scene and Maria had experience in Benny’s employ. Maria did well holding up her own, but one moment with Paige hitting the Rampaige is all it took to end the match.
Cameras suddenly cut to the back, where we see the Crock sobbing in front of his deformed sign for the Crock Show. Crock assures the audience that he will be back in full force by the end of the night as he launches a “locker room investigation” and unveils some “surprises”.
We are now set for the bout between Zelina Vega and Mandy Rose, which is announced as another qualifying match. Vega and Rose host quite the battle. Vega is an expert at lucha style wrestling while Mandy is a bodybuilder, so this was a very intriguing mesh of styles. Rose stayed afloat as long as she could, but Vega soon overcame the odds with her snap variation of the hurricanrana.
In the next match, Billy Gunn and Bossman go at it in what seems like a standard match. It is all well and good until Bossman snaps Gunn into the corner with such force that it causes the turnbuckle to release. The referee tries to establish control over the match, but Bossman creates a diversion by pushing Gunn into the distracted official. This permitted Bossman to choke Gunn out with the rope and then nail his Bossman Slam all before waking the ref up so that the three count could be finished.
As Bossman tries to enter his locker room he discovers that the lights are out upon entering. When they come on you see “The Crock Show” sign and Crock jumping into the picture to welcome Bossman. Bossman is irritated and insists that he never signed up for this, but Crock proceeds to interrogate him. First, asking Bossman about being a “thief” in the match he just won, and then connecting that with Bossman being a suspect in stealing Crock’s “mojo” as the host of a once-beloved show. Bossman pushes the desperate Crock off of him and escapes.
We are then treated to another great Moxley match as he takes on “The Villain” Marty Scurll. Marty puts up a hell of a fight, and this war between them – which unfolds nicely – eventually triggers Commissioner Slammu to communicate to Buffer that it should be made a qualifying match! With the stakes raised, the fighting intensifies, eventually ending to Moxley’s benefit.
In our next match, Wade Barrett enters a bout against the veteran Chaz. It is revealed that this is another qualifying match and we are off to the races. Personally, I was partial to Chaz winning, since he was among my favorites during his midcard USWA run, but the match didn’t win up with that result. Barrett comes out victorious after his Wasteland finisher.
Layla and Sunny then prepare for action as it is unveiled that this will be the final qualifying match designated by Slammu. Neither woman may have dreamed that they would have had a shot at being in the tournament, but here they were. One note, while I don’t know much about Layla – since she came from Benny’s place -, I can say that Sunny is probably one of the hardest working women in this industry. She did very well for herself in the Fourth Era and was remarkably competitive for the coveted women’s gold. No reason why anyone should doubt her now, irrespective of what Hyatte says. Anyways, after a hard fought battle – one of the hardest fought of the night, honestly – Layla performs a modified “Lay-out” to pick up the win.
In the back, we see the Crock sitting at a table as Bossman somehow finds his way back into the room. Bossman is understandably upset, and tells Crock that he should be ashamed for “wasting everyone’s time” on this sham investigation. Crock agrees that he has been wasting everyone’s time, but only because he believes that he found his culprit…in the Bossman. Bossman rejects the accusation, Crock says it is fate which led him here, but Bossman says it was two guys who look like Miz and Ziggler. Crock acknowledges that he knows the men who directed Bossman in the room – calling them “Almost Miz” and “Almost Ziggy” -, calling for them to enter the room. The men then grab Bossman at Crock’s direction. Crock reminds Bossman that he has power as the PWI Secretary of Employment and then proclaims that Bossman will pay for his crimes against the Crock Show and then orders the Almost Sidekicks to put Bossman through the table. Crock acts out “retaking” his “mojo” and promises that the “Crock Show” will return soon.
Just as the main event between Taya Valkyrie and Madyson Rayne is about to get under way, we hear the theme music for Chairman Murrey. Murrey enters the scene and announces that this match will become a qualifying match by his decree. The match then kicks off and it is another show-stealer. Both women compete at their max potential, but it was a top-rope execution of Rayne’s Rayne-Drop which won it all for her to close the show, the decade, and the first month of PWI Reborn!
What a first month back! Looking forward to the next time that this chore…er, job, calls upon me. See you all then.
Sincerely,
Jeff Esiason
A Chronicling of PWI 2020’s First Three Months
Jeff Esiason here, and no, I will not explain my absence for the past three months. The only thing you need to know is what I am about to tell you, the summarized chronicling of PWI’s first three months in the year, 2020:
ASYLUM – JANUARY 6TH, 2020
Let’s not even bother talking about the venues for any of these events. Instead, this event will review will merely focus on the matches and what I remember from all the backstage shit. The show opened up with a groundbreaking “Open Hardcore 4 Corner Elimination” to determine the next challenger for Brock Lesnar’s Immunity Championship. Chairman Murrey scheduled this thing because he was tired of Lesnar’s attacks and wanted to find someone to topple him. The first four combatants in the ring would officially be in the match, and those men turned out to be Christopher Daniels, Ken Shamrock, Cesaro, and Dolph Ziggler. The craziness leading up to the match also featured a key struggle between Test and Mark Henry as Test denied Henry an entrance into the ring. In the match, Daniels came out on top after quite the struggle.
Next, in what looked like it was going to be a massive PPV-caliber giveaway, Bray Wyatt was slated to take on Kane, but Wyatt revealed that Kane had not earned his right to end Wyatt’s terror with a direct match just yet. His chosen opponent for Kane was the Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman. Kane fought the good fight but was ultimately no match for Strowman’s debut match in PWI.
Mickey came down to the ring taunting Murrey, telling him that he was a curse to the industry and that he will be damned if Murrey kills the PWI like he did everything else he touched. Mickey revealed that Lesnar (who had attacked Daniels and Shamrock earlier in the night) was his secret bounty against Murrey, to punish him for destroying the company. Mickey unveiled that he had entered Lesnar into the Extreme Battle Royal for Immunity as part of this arrangement, because Lesnar is now free from penalty for his actions.
We get a brief interview with the Women’s Tag Team Champions in the back before they come out and defeat Molly Holly and Ivory in a decent match. The Women’s Tag Division was still getting built at this stage so it was receiving a lukewarm reception. This – after the commercial break – was followed by E-Dawg ruining another interview, this time with Ivelisse. Ivelisse is a star that Mickey personally sees as part of the company’s future, so Dawg’s mockery of an interview did not sit well with him, sources say. The match which followed between Ivelisse and Emma to continue their feud saw Emma winning in what turned out to be a Premier Athlete Tournament Roulette Match.
In the main event of the evening, Living Dead Girl successfully defended her Women’s Championship against the great Ariel. This was a fitting main event, and Living Dead Girl used her post-match interview to send a warning to Angelina Love, it was far from over.
LEGENDS – JANUARY 13TH, 2020
Catherine Mouse issued a press conference to kick off the show. She touched on the recent weather events which prevented the return of Ascendants and discussed the show ahead. In the opening bout, Taz decimated Triple H in a brutal Street Fight to wrap up their feud which stemmed from the breakup of their tag team.
After the break, the Guerreros approached Catherine about not having challengers for their tag team championships. Catherine assured them that challengers would soon be chosen. In the next match, Ruby Riott advanced in the Premier Athlete Tournament against Mandy Rose.
In the back, Teo approaches Matt Hardy. Teo plants a seed of doubt into Matt’s head about Jeff Hardy and Attitude deserving a chance to determine the next PWI World Champion. Allie then goes on to defeat Velvet Sky in the next match. I will say, I am a fan of Allie, but her search for direction in a crowded field of competitors is disheartening. So talented, but she needs a beacon.
O’Malley reminds Lawrence Mason that he is still called “The Best” and promises to remind Jon Moxley of why he is such. E-Dawg gets knocked out while trying to ambush Moxley in the restroom. Afterwards, Moxley defeats O’Malley in brutal fashion, reminding the world why his contract was so highly regarded in the corporate headquarters.
In the main event, Attitude and Jeff Hardy battle for the World Championship. As the two men who were screwed over directly by Teo’s interference at Greatness Reborn, management felt that they were the most deserving of this opportunity. The match was great, but Matt Hardy felt compelled to come out in the middle of the match. Anticipation rose that Matt would interfere, but when that didn’t happen Brock Lesnar came out instead and attacked the two combatants. Since Lesnar is immune there could be no disqualification. Lesnar tried to put Attitude in a winning position, but Matt intervened, causing a disqualification. Due to traditional rules, titles do not change hands on a DQ. Therefore, we are still left with no champion. Teo celebrates in his moment with his continued effort to fulfill his own prophecy that he would become the first PWI Champion of the era.
ASCENDANTS SUPERSHOW – JANUARY 18TH, 2020
In this special supersized return edition of Ascendants, we see two shows in one. Tessa Blanchard defeated Amber Gallows for the Premier tournament, Drew McIntyre issued a warning for his future opponents, Matt Hardy defeated Marty Scurll, and the Crock took on a “Crock Investigation” of the truth of the locker room. In this particular investigation, Crock sought and failed to seek the truth on why Doink is always laughing. Kevin Owens went on to defeat Mr. Kennedy, Sharon Carter and Mockingbird promised to run through the women’s tag division (calling themselves “The Agency”), and Alexa Bliss defeated Sasha Banks in a hell of a Premier Tournament match.
ASYLUM – JANUARY 20TH, 2020
Zelina Vega and Ruby Riott open up the night with one hell of a performance in the first Aerial Assault Match seen in years, for the Quarterfinals of the Premier Tourney. Vega picks up the victory.
E-Dawg enters the scene again, which is a miracle for the aforementioned reasons. Mickey was reportedly seething every time he heard Evil’s voice, especially against stars Mickey was trying to build. This is where Hyatte’s criticism holds some water with Mickey. He actually pays attention to the critics, even if he doesn’t want you to believe it (no need to fear for my job, I work for the shareholders, not Mickey). The Agency defeats the IIconics in another decent women’s tag match.
Lawrence Mason interviews Mark Henry who is furious about Test costing him a chance to become Immunity Champion. Henry then goes on to defeat Test.
We get some Bray Wyatt mindgames with Kane, always good stuff. Mickey and the Executioner are in the back with Mickey fuming about his granddaughter being “kidnapped” by Puddphucker. From what I know, not all of this is Kayfabe. Mickey really is aggravated by the situation. Oops, I said the quiet part out loud. Damn the fourth wall anyhow. Carmella picks up a needed win for legitimacy over the rising star Alexa Bliss with a distraction from Sasha Banks.
Business Man Puddy and Miss Jackie come down to make some announcements about the Showcase card. Good stuff again. The main event then features a truly brutal barbwire match for the Premier Quarterfinals in the Men’s division wherein Taz defeats Randy Savage.
ASCENDANTS – JANUARY 25TH, 2020
Madyson Rayne defeats Layla in an okay No Holds Barred Quarterfinal Match for the Premier Tourney, Bossman promises to revive his career and move beyond the mockery of the Crock in the Spotlight, and Kurt Angle advances in the Premier Tourney after defeating Wade Barrett in the Aerial Assault Match. Ratings wise (and we just got these numbers after a crazy delay), this was the worst performing episode of Ascendants so far. You can tragically tell how the board’s decision to expedite the tournament to finish its first round before February really hurt some interest in it. Unfortunate because the talent really gave it their all for the fans.
LEGENDS – JANUARY 27TH, 2020
Murrey arrives at the arena and is greeted by Catherine. They seem ready to get the show going. The Crock opens the show, interrupting the usual opening, and performs the “Roulette Draw” as the new master of ceremonies. The Board was reportedly really happy with Crock’s performance up to this point and wanted an increase in his bits…in healthy doses, of course. Moxley then shockingly defeats Teo in an incredibly good opening cage match for the Quarterfinals of the Tourney after Attitude interferes.
The Hardys are seen in the back appearing to doubt their abilities, indicating they may split up if they don’t prove that they still have it as a unit (I am advised to say that this was not intended to copycat a similar angle in the EWA, as this was from their genuine thoughts about their future). The YMCA insist to Mason that their time is far from up in the tag team division. The next bout is to determine number one contenders for the Guerreros’ tag championships. After a great match between them, the Hardys pull off the victory over the YMCA, but the moment is interrupted with the arrival of newcomers AOP as they decimate YMCA!
The Hardys talk to Murrey about recent events, he congratulates them and schedules their tag title match. After they leave Murrey is suddenly attacked by Lesnar, who leaves him beaten down. E-Dawg is preparing to interview Fire and Desire, but Lawrence Mason arrives to “relieve” Dawg of his onscreen duties. Dawg was not happy at all. Fire and Desire promise to make an impact and they do so after a great tag match against the Riott Squad.
Angelina Love is being interviewed by Lawrence Mason about her match but is naturally asked about Living Dead Girl’s obsession with her. She promises that her focus is on the current opponent but she is keeping an eye on the women’s champion. Lenny Mouse makes a return to the screen interviewing Amber Gallows – his serious presence was insisted upon by the Board, as they saw comedic interviews save for the Crock as a thing of the past -, Gallows tells about her history with Miss Love in the independents in a way to try and build for the match. Love defeats Gallows, but her celebration is haunted by the presence of the Women’s Champion who decides to make an appearance.
Catherine tries to intercept her daughter Jackie. Jackie pulls away, insisting that she can’t talk with her estranged mother. Business Man interjects as they are en route to the ring for their final announcement about the Showcase card. After the Showcase announcement, the Main Event features another quarterfinal No Holds Barred match, with Tessa Blanchard defeating Emma in a hell of a showdown to close the show and the month of January!
ASCENDANTS – FEBRUARY 1ST, 2020
Baron Corbin – a personal favorite of Mickey’s, who sees a bright future for the young man – defeated Diamond Dallas Page (who has worked with Mmouse Enterprises since sliced bread became a thing). Gail Kim stood out in her Spotlight Interview, declaring that the world would soon come to understand why the company was willing to pay so much to secure her coveted contract (no lie, Kim was paid more than any other woman in the industry’s history after teasing a contract with both Mouse brothers for the past Decade-plus). The Women’s Tag Team Champions, a Taste of Heaven issued an open challenge to any team willing to compete for their gold. Team Laycool (Layla and Michelle McCool) debuted their alliance and gave the champs a run for their money before going down in defeat.
SHOWCASE – FEBRUARY 3RD, 2020
The PPv-caliber Monday event got off to an incredible start with an amazing promo video and firework display. We were then treated to an opening contest for the Immunity Championship. Christopher Daniels surprised the Champion Brock Lesnar with how determined he was to win, almost getting the best of him several times throughout the bout. In the end, though, Lesnar proved too tough a task for Daniels to conquer.
Miss Jackie and Harry Puddphucker discuss the night ahead with Lawrence Mason. Excitement is truly in the air! Brandon Lee is frustrated as he takes his immediate supervisor Catherine aside. Catherine assures Lee that he hasn’t been forgotten. In fact, he has a chance to be in the Main Event Open Battle Royal for the PWI Title!! The Guerreros are sure of their coming victory as they talk up their skills to Lawrence Mason. However, the Hardys almost got the best of Eddie and Chavo in the actual championship match, forcing the champs to “steal” the moment by forcing a disqualification loss to the would-be champions.
Robby Storm approaches his dad, Lance. Robby tells his father that he learned about Lance’s insane plot to risk his career and welfare to prove himself to Robby. Lance insists that he must take on the insane mystery challenge on the next Legends to demonstrate that he is a father Robby can be proud of. Alexa Bliss rules the microphone as she discusses her coming bout with her emerging chief rival, Sasha Banks. She tells Mason that Banks is about to learn why Bliss is known as “the Goddess”. Banks, to the contrary, tells Lenny that Bliss is about to be put in her place. The match between Banks and Bliss was a great way to follow up the Tag Title match. The women of this era are top notch and you could tell from these two young ladies are a staple of the future in this industry. Bliss came out victorious with a shady victory – with assistance from her ring awareness – and managed to steal Sasha’s neckless!
Bray is seen in a dim-lit room with Braun Strowman standing behind him. Bray assures Kane that if Kane defeats tonight’s mystery opponent he will get what he wants: an end to this madness. Kane is then standing by with Mason. The one-time feared “Big Red Machine” has now been reduced to a paranoid pile of Callaway rubble, courtesy of Wyatt. Kane’s only hope to rediscover himself is to overcome the Wyatt Family threat, tonight. Kane’s mystery opponent turns out to be the demented Scarecrow, who at one time held the longest undefeated streak in the industry’s history via his HCW tenure through most of his original PWI run (his first loss was by elimination in a battle royal). Scarecrow’s love of inflicting and receiving pain proves overwhelming for the psychologically distraught Kane, as the Family scores another victory over the Callaway Icon.
Living Dead Girl expresses to Mason that she has her sights set on Angelina Love and is hoping Love wins the top contender’s match. Mickey confronts his granddaughter Jackie, but is cut off by Harry Puddphucker (I can’t stress enough how real Mickey’s disdain is for this partnership). In the Fatal Four Way match to name a number one contender for the Women’s Championship, Angelina Love defeats Victoria, Zelina Vega, and Tessa Blanchard in a stunning bout to earn her shot at Living Dead Girl as the Champ herself makes another haunting appearance.
Then we are blessed with the insane chaos of the open 10 man battle royal to name a World Champion. Each brand had an opening for five superstars to gain entry. As promised by Catherine, Lee received one of those openings, but he did not see success. Test and Mark Henry managed to both get eliminated and engaged in a brawl outside of the ring which distracted all of the officials long enough for them to miss Attitude eliminating Teo and becoming the last man standing! Seeing that no officials was looking, Teo reentered the ring and eliminated both himself and Attitude just in time for at least one official to witness it. Chairman Murrey angrily stormed onto the scene and declared that there “must be a winner” at the next PPV “Fate’s Resurrection”! The match to crown the first new champion of the Sixth Era: Teo v. Attitude!!
ASCENDANTS – FEBRUARY 8TH, 2020
Aleister Black continued his meteoric rise, defeating another favorite of the board, Mr. Kennedy. Victoria unveiled that she has been suffering from a number of injuries through which she was trying to wrestle ever since the era began. She revealed she would be taking some brief time off to recuperate and revitalize her career. Asuka and Allie had a great match to finish the night, with Asuka coming out victorious!
ASYLUM – FEBRUARY 10TH, 2020
Mickey is seen in the back with his new cabinet laughing it up with his hired henchmen, including the Immunity Champion, Brock Lesnar. Christopher Daniels comes in and insists upon a rematch with Lesnar. Mickey laughs it off at first but offers that Daniels will get what he wants if he can defeat a mystery opponent in the Main Event. Crock then interrupts the flow of the show with another Crock Roulette drawing for the upcoming matches. In the opening bout, Petey Williams defeats Matt Taven in a Premier Quarterfinal Cage match.
We see Emma and Paige engage with each other in the back with poor Lawrence Mason in the middle to prep for their upcoming bout. Next, Murrey storms into the Crock’s lair to demand that he admit his role in creating the mess in which Murrey finds himself regarding Brock Lesnar. Crock scoffs and insists that he is a mere innocent bystander, an investigator even…looking for answers as well. Ivelisse decimates Paige and Emma, causing a double disqualification in that match, obviously a clear message that this woman of the streets is far from done and out of the picture.
In the back we see some taunting between the IIconics – a revolutionary women’s tag team which has really struggled to find their footing in the mainstream – and the insurgent Agency. Mark Henry is still seething about his ongoing struggles to succeed with the distractions of foes like Test, citing Test’s role in Henry’s loss in the Showcase Battle Royal. Mark Henry then loses to Drakus thanks to the theme music distraction from Test.
Molly Holly and Ivory discuss their future as a tag team in the back (note: these backstage segments featuring women’s tag teams and other unscheduled talent was pushed by the Board, which were concerned that the audience may lack interest in the other non-Main Event storylines). Ariel discusses her admiration for Alundra Blayze, who trained her back in 2008 and tells Mason she is looking forward to the match with the icon. The cameras catch Kane, sitting alone in a red-tinted dark room, practically praying for his Wyatt-induced torment to end. Ariel then goes on to defeat Blayze in a great encounter.
Mickey, after the introduction of Christopher Daniels, boastfully welcomes Christopher’s opponent: DRAGONFLY!! Dragonfly comes out to a hero’s welcome in his first match since losing to Randy Orton at From Dusk Til Dawn in June. Daniels puts up a hell of a fight, but the unreal skillset of Dragonfly supersedes all of the Fallen Angel’s best efforts as Dragonfly nails the Dragon Twist Driver and secures his first victory of the new era!
ASCENDANTS – FEBRUARY 15TH, 2020
Team Laycool gets another crack at displaying their skill, this time against another new team in the women’s tag division: Comic Nightmare. Team Laycool secures the victory. Wade Barrett discussed his rookie career on the mainstream and his experiences in the Premier tournament, and then Cesaro nailed an impressive victory over Shinsuke Nakamura.
LEGENDS – FEBRUARY 17TH, 2020
Teo begins the show in the back with Lawrence Mason. Teo is proud of himself for coming back from the brink when Catherine blocked his participation in the World Title Match at Greatness Reborn. He expressed confidence that he will become the next World Champion at Fate’s Resurrection. The Crock interrupted the opening video package, introducing the show in his unique fashion (the Board reportedly finds Crock’s abuse of his “Almost Sidekicks” to be hilarious). Alexa Bliss shockingly defeats Amazon in a gruesome Barbwire Premier Quarterfinal Match!
Velvet Sky and Amber Gallows catch up with their Independent Circuit ally Angelina Love, offering her the old spot she once occupied in their stable, the Allure. Angelina doesn’t commit either way. The Hardyz, bitter about being robbed by the Guerreros two weeks before, discuss their upcoming bout to get revenge for the YMCA and to regain their footing. However, with the help of the Guerreros, the AOP defeat the Hardy Boyz.
Robby Storm is back in Lance’s locker room space to try and talk some sense into his father. Storm is apparently ready to die, though. Taz gets on the microphone with Lawrence, declaring that his time has come to finally recapture the image he lost when he was placed in a tag team with Triple H (though, come on, TNT was among the most successful tag teams in the history of this industry, let’s be honest). Lance Storm enters the ring and it is revealed that he signed up to take on the monstrous Slammer. Slammer predictably manhandles Lance, though Storm gets a few good hits in there. After Slammer wins and tries to finish Lance off, Robby enters the scene to try and display some mercy for his father as he fights off the beastly assailant.
We see Stephanie McMahon trying to leave the women’s restroom when she is interrupted by Daisy Buffer. Daisy wants to be Steph’s friend, but Steph wants no part of it. I don’t know why, Daisy’s got something going on there. Not sure what, but she has it. Gail Kim is interviewed by Mason about her upcoming match. She promises to rise to the occasion in her first televised match in PWI. After this interview Catherine emerges. She doesn’t seem too pleased with the fact that Teo is back in the title picture. Gail Kim, true to her word, defeats Stephanie McMahon in a competitive match.
Team Laycool are interviewed about the main event match between McCool and Love. They are interviewed as a unit in part as a continuing effort to keep building the Women’s Tag Division. The Allure briefly swing by Angelina Love to remind her that they have her back, if she wants them to. During the Main Event bout between Love and McCool, the women’s champion Living Dead Girl makes a sudden appearance. Love wins by disqualification as the Allure watches on, continuing to hint that they could have helped Love.
ASCENDANTS –FEBRUARY 22ND, 2020
The Agency continue their climb as they defeat the unfortunate IIconics. I feel bad for Peyton Royce and Billie Kaye, because they really are talented, but the Women’s Tag Division is developing rapidly and the IIconics are getting steamrolled in the process. Doink the Clown displays his complete insanity during the most outrageous Spotlight Interview I’ve ever seen. The man may be crazier than Edge, and I never thought that was possible. Did this man school Edge? I mean, Doink has been in the business a little longer. Maybe all of the industry’s crazies come from the school of Doink…who knows? Slammu announces much of the card for the upcoming Spring Spotlight Pay Per View, and Randy Savage defeats Mr. Kennedy in the main event (and it was no sleeper, either).
ASYLUM – FEBRUARY 24TH, 2020
Chairman Murrey kicks off the show with a press conference involving what he deemed to be a special announcement. Unfortunately for him, Brock Lesnar interrupts the festivities with another routine beatdown. After the opening sequence, Jon Moxley defeats Kurt Angle in a great Falls Count Anywhere Premier Semifinal Match!
Ivelisse shines in her interview with Mason, looking like the badass that we know she is. Kurt Angle then shows Jon Moxley some respect in the locker room, a rare thing to see in this day and age. Truth is, Angle is an old school veteran and a professional at traditional wrestling. He has love for the industry, and he signaled that this was sort of a passing of the torch. Ivelisse defeats Carmella in a great encounter but in convincing fashion, but her celebration is short-lived as Emma slides in for the attack, after hiding under the ring!
The Crock does the honor of drawing out of his table machine the stipulations and competitors for the next Premier match. Kane demands that Bray give him a match to end the horror once and for all, Bray emerges, with his Family in tow. Bray insists that for Kane to earn the right to face him he must “go back to where it all began” (meaning Kane’s struggles) and face his greatest fear, and conquer it. Kane agrees, the lights go out, and the Soultaker makes his way to the ring! This was a stroke of genius in mind games from Bray to force Kane to face his greatest foe of all-time, Soultaker (who defeated Kane in his first major match in the industry back in 1998 at that year’s USWA Summerslam when Soultaker pinned him in an Inferno Match, threw him into a giant paper body bag and lit it on fire). Kane fought well and shocked even himself when he managed to defeat his most evil sibling. The stage was officially set for Kane and Bray at the next PPV!!
Mickey and Brock are boastfully discussing the interrupted press conference from earlier. Lesnar mentions that he would actually like to take on Ken Shamrock at the PPV, so as to shut him up. Mickey was surprised, but agreed that it could be a good idea. Shamrock learned about the challenge from Brock and was then interviewed by Mason. Shamrock promised to not be the pushover Brock assumes he would be, reminding him and the world that he – like Brock – had a background in MMA, and that he was more than ready to take the Beast down! In a fantastic semifinal Ironman Premier match, Alexa Bliss managed to sneak her way into a 10-9 victory over Zelina Vega after some high risk moves from Vega worked out in Bliss’s favor.
Chairman Murrey angrily burst on to the scene, and demanded to speak with Mickey at once. Mickey came down laughing about the trials and tribulations of Murrey, who he saw as a curse to the industry. Murrey demanded to find a way to bring Lesnar’s bounty to an end, the back and forth exchange eventually led to the two agreeing to the first War Games match in 22 years!! A victory by Team Mickey meant that Murrey had to step down but not before dissolving his position as chair, leaving Mickey and the other co-Vice Chairs to assume a newly-created Co-Chair position. Team Murrey’s victory would end the bounty agreement of Lesnar and Mickey and give Murrey his own shares in the company! In the Main Event Opportunity Match – where the winner gets a championship opportunity and the loser gets demoted to the Ascendant Class – Mark Henry ended his feud with Test by defeating him.
ASCENDANTS – FEBRUARY 29TH, 2020
Cesaro picked up another important victory, this time over Billy Gunn. Baron Corbin used his time in the Spotlight to issue a challenge to Cesaro for the Spring Spotlight. The Main Event featured a Number One Contenders Match for the Women’s Tag Team Championship, with the challenge slated to take place at the Spring Spotlight, Team Laycool defeated the Agency to become the Number One Contenders after a hard fought battle. Commissioner Slammu ended the show with some announcements pertaining to the Spring Spotlight.
LEGENDS – MARCH 2ND, 2020
Catherine set to kick off the show with a Press Conference, but she was abruptly interrupted by the Crock, whose takeover of programming seemed almost complete with his next Premier draw. The opening contest was a Premier Semifinal Falls Count Anywhere match wherein Tessa Blanchard defeated Madyson Rayne.
Catherine was met by the Guerreros prior to the Number One Contenders Match for the Men’s Tag Team Championship. Catherine banned the Guerreros from ringside. AOP was interviewed by Lawrence Mason, but they seemed more in a mood to inflict pain than they were to chat about doing so. In the match, it looked like the AOP was on their way to victory – despite a great performance by the Hardyz -, but an assist from the YMCA led the Hardyz to pick up the win!
Angelina Love was standing by with Lawrence Mason. She noted her belief that Living Dead Girl seemed obsessed with her because she achieved the success without hype that Living Dead Girl failed to achieve in the past. She was also asked about the Allure, but brushed the offer aside for the moment. We then see an intense confrontation between Teo and Attitude. Teo mocks the notion that Attitude belongs in the same ring with him, let alone in the title picture. Attitude is intent on shutting Teo up for good, and Teo seems just as confident as ever that he won’t be shot down again. The match between the Allure and Team Laycool is suddenly brought to an abrupt end when Living Dead Girl appears and decimates everyone in sight to send a clear message to Angelina Love!
Petey Williams is with Lawrence Mason in the back and is bound and determined to become the Premier Athlete in the last Semifinal match of either tournament. Taz is then seen getting himself hyped to prove himself as a singles star who can still cut it. It is revealed that the match is set to be a submission match, which would actually be in Taz’s favor, considering that he is a submissions expert whereas Williams is far from such. However, after Williams is introduced, Taz is a no-show. The official gives Taz three opportunities to show up, but is soon forced to rule in favor of Williams by forfeit. Once the ruling is made, Samoa Joe emerges from the stage area, laughing after having apparently taken Taz out of the equation!
Then, in a unique Main Event, we see a twist in the Extreme Battle Royal to crown the first Women’s Immunity Champion. It was set to be an open contest, with standard elimination for all but the final two participants, then the final two participants had to decide the match by capturing the championship hanging above the ring! It was an experiment in the making and apparently the women’s division has served as the Guinea pig in this company for experimenting with numerous new ideas, but the final two women came down to Asuka and Allie. It looked like Allie was on a roll, but Asuka finished her off in brutal fashion and captured the gold by ascending a makeshift weapon mountain after she couldn’t find a ladder.
ASCENDANTS – MARCH 7TH, 2020
Chairman Murrey opened the show with a press conference wherein he revealed Team Murrey (Team Mickey had been revealed before this date), and he pledged that Mickey would be soundly defeated in the War Games match. Drew McIntyre – one of Mickey’s picks for War Games – defeated Andrade after a great contest. For the Spotlight Interview, the new Women’s Immunity Champion, Asuka comes down alongside Managing Icon James E. Cornette. Cornette – who had famously managed Brock Lesnar and then Agramon in the Third Era – warns the women’s division that Asuka will prove herself to be the greatest threat in the division now that she has immunity and him by her side! In the main event, Kevin Owens and Marty Scurll had a hard fought battle, which Owens won. Then, Commissioner Slammu came out to the ring to announce the entire Spring Spotlight card and to remind the audience of the coming expansion of Ascendants.
THE SPRING SPOTLIGHT – MARCH 14TH, 2020
Seeking to duplicate the success of his performance at the first Spotlight back in December, the Crock kicks off the night of wrestling with what he calls the “Crocktroduction” which allows him to welcome the audience and “draw” the types of matches that we will see in the Three Stages of Hell Premier Finals which start tonight. Then, we have our promo, and then the night officially begins with Jon Moxley and Petey Williams having their first match of the Men’s Premier Three Stages of Hell Finals. The match was chosen to be a Rafter Match. Rafter Matches in the past have had a history of either being very limited or very short. This is because old rafter matches occurred on a small platform suspended above the ring at varying heights. The original Rafter Match in mainstream wrestling happened in the USWA with a botched finish between the Soultaker and Blaster, as it only lasted seconds! HCW brought Rafter Matches back to the Mainstream in 2008 with their “Death from Above” Match, and it was more successful, but it was still limited. With the new set-up of PWI arenas, the Rafter Matches now have the potential to be classics like what you see in Falls Count Anywhere and Hell in a Cell matches. Moxley and Williams proved just that. This was a hell of a match to kick off the night, and it had an ending which tied this story in with the World Championship story when Teo suddenly interfered, costing Moxley the match with the most devastating Fall From Grace I’ve ever seen!
Crock returns with what he calls the “Crockerview”, which was more of him trying to be the host of Spotlight playing the part of Lawrence Mason. We then see an Opportunity Match – which, when held in the Ascendant Class, turns out to be an Opportunity v. Career situation – where the Bossman defeats Billy Gunn after a hard fought battle. This effectively ended Gunn’s career and sent Bossman to the main roster.
Lawrence Mason is now interviewing Emma as she prepares for her rubber match against Ivelisse to end their feud. Emma is focused, but the interview is cut off by Almost Miz, who insists that Mason come to Crock’s office to have a word with him. In what Crock deems the “Crockervention”, he demands that Mason stop conducting interviews on the Spotlight, saying that him doing so is stealing precious Crock-only time. Mason is clearly just trying to do his job, but Crock will have none of it as he shows – by abusing Almost Ziggy – what happens when you take Crock’s precious airtime away. Ivelisse and Emma do a great job in their No Disqualification match. Emma still looks great, but Ivelisse nabbed the victory. In my opinion, both came out of this looking good.
We see a preview for the upcoming Main Roster PPV, getting you hyped for all the history about to be made in eight days’ time! The next match is what Commissioner Slammu deemed a “Rise Up Triple Threat” where one superstar will have a chance to rise up to the main roster. He scheduled this match with Kevin Owens taking on two stars with whom he has had standout matches on Ascendants; Mr. Kennedy and Marty Scurll. Seeing how Owens was on a roll of sorts, this was more a challenge to see if he was ready than anything else. The match itself was great, and the fact that Marty Scurll shocked everyone by getting the win over the odds-on favorite Owens was even better!
There is now a “Crockermission” which is Crock giving you permission to quickly use the restroom as he talks about his greatness. In the next match meant to lay the groundwork for the future of the PWI Women’s Tag Division, the Allure is set to take on Fire & Desire. I was looking forward to the bout, but then Living Dead Girl appeared and wrecked the place, causing a No Contest. She had special attention for the Allure, recognizing their connection with Angelina Love. After she left Gallows and Sky laying in the middle of the ring, the Champ vanished and Angelina Love rushed to the ring to check on her former friends.
Lawrence Mason is interviewing Commissioner Slammu about the success of this show so far as well as Ascendants, but they are cut off by Crock’s jealousy of Mason hogging airtime. Slammu puts Crock in his place, and Crock has nothing to say. Our next match is called an “Ascendants Challenge Match”. Unlike the “Rise Up” match, this match is gives one star an opportunity to ascend to the main roster via a challenge issued by one star and accepted by the other. Baron Corbin had issued the challenge to Cesaro and it was obviously accepted, so here we are. Cesaro is just so damn talented in the ring, and his chemistry with Corbin meshes very well. In the end, Corbin captured the victory after one of my personal favorite matches of the night. After the match, Cesaro is enjoying some positive fan appreciation for his consistent talented work when Drew McIntyre interrupts with a devastating Claymore! Seeing how Drew is on Team Mickey and Cesaro is on Team Murrey in the War Games match this was a warning shot from Mickey to Murrey about what was to come in eight days!
A frustrated Crock is with his Almost Sidekicks. He is tired of Slammu and Mason taking up his time on television. We get set up for the first bout of the Women’s Premier Three Stages of Hell Final! The match chosen by Crock turns out to be Hell in a Cell! Alexa Bliss and Tessa Blanchard enter the bout knowing that it could change them, and it definitely shifts some predictions as to whom was likely to win. They wound up on the top of the cell – because…why not? – and Bliss managed to send Blanchard from the top to the floor! Bliss then upped her game and nailed an incredible Twisted Bliss on Tessa! Bliss slowly recovers, drags Tessa into the ring, and then she picks up the victory!
We go to the back, Bossman turns on the lights and is again in Crock’s “office”. Bossman is disappointed, and Crock indicates that some kind of plan is in the works. I don’t get the impression that Bossman likes the arrangement at all, but Crock is more than pleased with the way things are going. Hmm. Main Event time! Women’s Tag Team Championship on the line! Team Laycool appears ready to bring their best to the dominant champions A Taste of Heaven. The Women’s Tag Division had to develop on the fly and it evolved quite rapidly into a legitimate division. Both teams looked great during the match, and Team Laycool captured the gold!! What a way to end the night!
FATE’S RESURRECTION – MARCH 22ND,2020
What an opening promo video. By far among my favorites in the history of the company! We kick off the show with Match Two of the Men’s Premier Three Stages of Hell Final in a Falls Count Anywhere Match! A lot of pressure was on Moxley and Williams to follow up on their incredible opening eight days earlier at the Spring Spotlight, and there were rumors that Moxley may not even be able to compete. Yet, Jon showed up and he was ready for a brawl! Moxley decimated Williams throughout much of the match and while Petey put up a fight, Moxley overcame the odds and nailed the victory which meant they were set up for a third and final encounter later in the evening! We then immediately head to a remote location for Match Two of the Women’s Premier Three Stages of Hell Final! This match was easily revealed to be a Crimson Car Match. I will admit that both women were a tad out of their element here. The allotted stage for the fight was a bit restricted, and the fixed camera shot missed some parts of the bout. Either way, Alexa and Tessa did their best to deliver and Alexa wound up winning the match and the tournament!
Cameras go to the back and we see Ken Shamrock standing by with Lawrence Mason. Shamrock is ready to show the world that he is ready for the task at hand against the Immunity Champion Brock Lesnar. We next see Mickey arrive at the building, as he and the Executioner – er, “Enforcer Two” – get ready for the War Games Main Event! Next is the Immunity Championship Match! Shamrock absolutely gives Brock a run for his money. Shamrock has been in this business a very long time and while Mmouse Enterprises fans are more familiar with the work of Ken’s younger brother Frank, Ken made a name for himself in MMA and in competing wrestling promotions. Brock, of course, has significantly reinvented himself into a seemingly unstoppable beast and this match proved no different as he conquered Ken to retain!
We are subsequently subjected to another Crockermission. Crock is trying to spread like a virus, and I think he isn’t even trying to entertain anymore. The man has something up his sleeve. From the Crockermission we head back to Mason, who is standing by with Kane. Kane is fed up with Bray’s games and is finally going to get the No Holds Barred encounter with Wyatt that he has desired since December. As we get to the match, Bray kicks the bout off with some more mind games, and he seems to be getting to Kane, but Kane eventually manages to get the upper hand, overcoming the intimidation of his psyche by Bray much like how he was able to conquer Soultaker weeks earlier. Bray displays the full degree of his sociopathic ways, exhibiting no regrets for his beatdown, and continuing to plead with Kane to join the Family. When Kane appears poised to defeat Bray, Bray offers Kane one last warning, insisting that he should have “run”. Kane sets up to end the match and his torment for good, but then the lights go out. “You’re All Going To Die Down Here” The arena explodes as FRED appears for the first time since June 2019 when he disappeared alongside Armageddon after their brutal showdown at From Dusk Til Dawn. The lights don’t stop flashing (and it is the only illumination for this moment) throughout the nightmarish appearance of FRED as a dark and ominous music plays as he tears Kane apart and leaves him beaten down in the middle of the ring before disappearing again! Bray emerges victorious when everything returns to normal and his demented cackle closes the segment once again.
The Hardys are in the back getting each other amped up for this next encounter with the Tag Team Champions. While both were ready for a singles career just three months earlier, I can tell that they want this last Tag Title reign just as badly. Lawrence Mason touches base with the Guerreros, who are steadily becoming one of the best parts of PWI programming. Eddie and Chavo are super clever at everything they do and they seem poised to demonstrate that once again in the coming showdown. In the Tag Team Championship match, the Guerreros and the Hardys give the people an incredible performance from the two best teams in the industry today. Despite their best efforts and a last minute build of momentum, the Hardys fell short of the mark with Eddie and Chavo stealing another win!
Angelina Love is standing by with Lawrence Mason. She makes clear that she is going to bring the myth of Living Dead Girl down. Before the Women’s Championship match, we see the arrival of Chairman Murrey. He appears as confident as ever. I think I see the man getting some of that mojo back! In the Women’s Championship match, Angelina Love comes awfully close to reclaiming the championship which she dominated in the previous era, but the first ever women’s phenom proves too powerful for Love. Love is in her own head and Living Dead Girl capitalized on such to retain the gold! After the match, the Allure makes their way to the ring to console their former compatriot. They extend their offer for her to join them once more, but Love viciously attacks them. I guess that is a “no”.
In the back, the Women’s Premier Athlete Alexa Bliss is standing by with Lawrence Mason. She notes that her victory proves what she has been saying all along, that she is a “Goddess” and that the world will see her in all her glory soon enough. We are now ready for the Finale of the Men’s Premier Three Stages of Hell, in an IRON MAN MATCH! Moxley and Williams seem more than exhausted, but it has finally come to this, the end of the road. For more than half of the match these two were excellent and relatively even matched, but when it looked like Moxley was building steam and about to lock up the match, Teo suddenly intervened once again! Teo’s meddling gave Williams an edge that Moxley couldn’t adequately overcome (and Moxley went down swinging, beating the hell out of Teo as well). Williams wound up winning 4 to 3, becoming the first ever Men’s Premier Athlete!
Attitude is now standing by with Lawrence Mason. Attitude wasn’t surprised by Teo’s actions, nor was he going to be underestimating him. This was the moment he had long been waiting for, and he was eager to prove that he was better than Teo by defeating him for the World Championship! In the back, we see Petey Williams recovering from his match. Teo emerges and seems to hint that he deserves appreciation for helping. He reminded Williams of his promise that Petey would get the first shot if he should win, and Williams seemed appreciative of that, even if it was cautiously. In the Best of Three Falls Match to crown the PWI World Champion, Teo and Attitude were set to unleash hell upon one another in their first one on one since From Dusk Til Dawn! Attitude shocked Teo, though, by becoming the first one to get a fall!! Then, Petey Williams emerged! Attitude was distraught and Teo seemed to have an evil grin. Williams announced that his first of the two privileges he would execute as the Premier Athlete would be the power as “Boss for a Day” to insert himself into this match and make it a Best of Four Falls Triple Threat! Teo was enraged, but Williams didn’t care. Petey kicked Teo off to the side and secured the second fall! The three way brawl continued with a completely different situation than we had going in. Teo, though, proved resilient in the end, securing the final two falls of the match, becoming the first PWI Champion of the new era!!
Before the Main Event we are treated to a trailer for the Seventh Installment of Motivation, which should be an event for the ages! The Main Event emerges and War Games is upon us! The last time we had a War Games match was in February 1998 at USWA’s “In Your House: Souled Out” PPV wherein the Main Event of that evening saw Team NWO defeat Team Nation of Domination when Slammu made his first heel turn betraying the Nation and becoming the new leader of the New World Order. That match had the consequence of giving the NWO temporary control in the company (restoring the old “NWO Country” from a couple years before). This match in March 2020 had even higher stakes. Team Murrey consisted of its Team Captain John Morrison, The Miz, Cesaro, and Aleister Black. Team Mickey consisted of its Team Captain Dragonfly, Drew McIntyre, Robby Storm, and Dolph Ziggler. Initially, it looked as though Team Mickey had this thing in the bag. The match stipulations – outside of the obvious prize at stake – was that the match wouldn’t officially begin until all 8 participants had entered, and they were entering every few minutes. This gave Team Mickey an apparent advantage in the end, but Team Murrey started to benefit from having an additional participant enter when there was an odd number of stars in the ring. The numbers game started to overwhelm Team Mickey and Mickey was growing nervous. This was until Drew McIntyre started building momentum and looked like he was effectively clearing the way for Dragonfly to come in as the final entrant and end the match with a resounding Mickey victory! However, as the final buzzer went off and Dragonfly’s entrance was delayed, Drew set up to put Morrison through a table and Dragonfly suddenly came in late…attacking Drew! As Mickey screamed in the background “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!” Dragonfly nailed Drew with a devastating Dragon Twist Driver through the table from the top of the cage and stepped back as Team Murrey secured the victory! Mickey was apoplectic and Murrey couldn’t help but to laugh, telling Mickey “you never saw this coming” (an obvious call back to Mickey saying the same to Murrey about the Lesnar arrangement). The show ended with Team Murrey standing tall and Murrey paying homage to Dragonfly.
For whatever reason, the War Games Match stayed away from the mainstream of this business for 22 years. I think this match proved why it was mistake to leave it out of consideration for so long. What a night and what a quarter in the history of PWI!!
The Final Stretch of PWI’s Third Season
Jeff Esiason here, everyone, and I have decided to be more proactive in my performance as your pseudo-reporter for all things pertaining to PWI’s events. Instead of waiting until I finish the whole summary I am going to try and review each event as soon as possible after they happen. So, here goes:
THE RETURN SHOW – APRIL 30TH, 2020
PWI returned to action after 39 days of absence. The extended vacation was blamed on the coronavirus scare. Most of corporate had wanted to return on schedule but Mickey is a major germophobe and demanded superior safety precautions prior to returning. He actually sat out this particular event due to the fact that he was not satisfied with the conditions. As the return kicks off Chairman Murrey makes his way to the ring. He is feeling quite boastful tonight in the wake of his victory over Mickey at Fate’s Resurrection. He unveils the card for the evening, with special emphasis on the opening and main event bouts. Both will feature five superstars that haven’t secured a single win in this era, and the winners will earn a major title shot in what Murrey calls the “Make or Break Fatal Five Way”. Sunny, Sable, Stephanie, Maria, and Alundra Blayze are in the first of these bouts. Honestly, they put on a spectacular match-up. At one point, Maria looked like she had the momentum to win, but Alundra actually pulled it off!
Lawrence Mason is then standing by with the WPW and USWA-legend Billy Lee. Billy asked for this interview because he had a revelation: he didn’t like the direction things were going in. While he said he is permanently retired he wants to mentor a couple of stars – under his new name “Fitz Riot” – to make them the “most elite” team in the world. He then introduces his team “The Elite”: Miz and Morrison! We then head to Bray Wyatt’s locker room, where he is staring into the camera. Bray warns that the time to join the family has passed and that no one is safe. Soon everyone would join Kane “in the dust”. The lights go out, Bray says “it’s time” and the light flicker on revealing FRED’s silhouette in the red-tinted room standing behind Bray! In the next match we have a four Tag Team Gauntlet Match to determine number one contenders for the Men’s Tag Team Championships. The Storms kicked things off with the Untouchables (Mr. Clean and Drake Nash). This was a great start to the bout and a nice first test for Lance and Robby as they toppled the Untouchables to move forward. Next, we saw the entry of one of our new tag teams: American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable). American Alpha gave the Storm a very good run for their money, but the team work of Lance and Robby overcame the challenge. Even so, surviving the gauntlet became even more challenging with the final entry: Erik and Ivar of the War Raiders! This new tag team display incredible brutality and dominated much of this encounter, but through sheer luck it seemed the Storms went on to defeat them as well!!
Lawrence Mason is at the podium looking as if he is about to address the press for a presser. However, he introduces the first ever Women’s Premier Athlete: Alexa Bliss! Alexa comes out for what she calls “Alexa Appreciation” or “Goddess Appreciation”. She gloats about being the Premier Athlete, promises that things will be amazing under her rule, and unveils that her first choice as the Premier Athlete will be to automatically enter herself into the finals of next season’s Tournament, making it a Four Stages of Hell! Madison Rayne is then seen in the locker room (Madison changed the spelling of her name from the “Madyson” spelling that was used in her Independent days). The Allure (Velvet Sky and Amber Gallows) catch up with her. These three women used to be part of the original “Allure” stable alongside Angelina Love, and it was made clear that they wanted Rayne to help bring Love to her senses. Rayne obliged, suggesting that she would give it a shot. Our next match was between Samoa Joe and Taz. I will say that this match really stood out for me as both men gave it their all. Samoa Joe needed a moment to look like the beast we all know him to be and this helped him in a major way as he came out victorious in the end, forcing Taz to pass out to the Coquina Clutch!
We go to the back after the break and we see Lawrence standing by with Amazon, a genuine icon in women’s wrestling. Mason shows Amazon a clip of a recorded interview earlier in the night with Angelina Love. Love – in that interview – appeared flustered with the idea of competing against her “past”, both in terms of fighting off the temptations of the Allure and with respect to battling an old foe in Amazon. She had suggested that Amazon was merely a bump in her road to getting back on track. Amazon seemed a little irritated seeing this. She indicated that Love was merely making excuses for her downfall. Amazon expressed that she was ready to proceed and keep showing the world that she still has what it takes. In this main event-caliber match, Love and Amazon tore the damn house down. One of the best matches that I have seen either of them involved in to date. In the end, Love exhausted two of her finishers on Amazon to no avail after she herself kicked out of Amazon’s triple powerbomb. Love had to introduce a new finisher (which she calls the “Break A Bitch”, a back-breaker) in order to finally win this classic! After Love’s win, where she appeared to become a tad more ruthless, we see Madison Rayne appear on stage, applauding her former ally (and one-time chief rival). Love looks back at Rayne with frustration as we cut to commercial.
Now is time for the main event with the men’s “Make or Break Fatal Five Way”! Scott Nash, “The Best” Mike O’Malley, Ken Shamrock, Test, and Triple H all come out – again, none of whom have a single win on their Third Season Record – and give it their all. Just like the opening bout, you could tell that the story here was that each man was performing to possibly save their careers! Each superstar had a moment where it looked like they were about to come out on top, and Test really had the momentum in the closing seconds, until Mike O’Malley rushed in and ended the bout with the victory! Murrey came down to congratulate O’Malley, but to address the eight superstars who lost these two challenges. He emphasized that he respected the contributions of each to the industry, but that it was vital they actually look like they still belong with the “Premier” promotion. So, as a result of losing these challenges, Murrey was giving each of the eight until the end of the season to either improve their records or be forced into retirement!!
CHAMPIONS SHOWCASE – MAY 4TH, 2020
The Crock kicks off the show by telling the audience that he is on a new “important investigation”. The focus of such? Finding Mickey, to whom no one has spoke face-to-face since Fate’s Resurrection. The opening promo kicks off the show officially as we see James E. Cornette invite anyone who is willing to challenge for Asuka’s Immunity Championship. The woman who answers the call is none other than Maria. The match which ensues is in and of itself a show-stealing performance (something that the women have proven more than capable of in this era). Maria comes damn near close to capturing the gold, but Asuka pulls off a miracle win!
Lance and Robby are in the back getting ready for their match. Robby expresses how eager he is to win this match with his father. Lance couldn’t be happier to finally have a chance to reign supreme with his beloved son. Lesnar laughs off the possibility of anyone being able to capture his gold in his upcoming match which he was mandated inexplicably to defend his immunity. Lesnar warns the whole locker room that his path of destruction has only begun. In the women’s locker room we see a continuation of Alexa Bliss’s “Goddess Appreciation” celebration. Some of the women in the locker room obviously don’t appreciate the “Goddess”, but Alexa will have none of it. Amazon steps forward as being fed up with her gloating already. Alexa brushes her off, more or less saying that Amazon’s time has passed. Sasha emerges after Alexa leaves, seemingly still seething over being embarrassed by the Goddess numerous times. Brock prepares to defend his gold and soon learns that the reason it was mandated is that Petey Williams is “cashing in” on his right to three championship matches tonight with a shot at the Immunity Gold! Brock thinks it is funny at first but soon discovers that Petey means business. Ultimately, Williams outsmarts Brock and defeats him!!
The Y.M.C.A. are working out in the back, trying to get fit and back in the proverbial game when they are suddenly assaulted by the A.O.P., who admonish B-Rad and Slave about the consequences of getting in their way. The Guerreros are confident as they assure Lawrence Mason that they will “Lie, Cheat, and Steal” their way into another victory tonight. Crock’s search for Mickey continues, finding him in the restroom for some odd reason (perhaps following the trail of Mickey’s Enforcer Number Two, er…Executioner). In the Tag Team Championship match, the Storms manage to pull off an impressive victory over the Guerreros!
The cameras see a demented Bray Wyatt yet again. Bray is telling the audience that they have no reason to fear the darkness, because he will provide the light. However, if they dare to cross him and refuse to humble themselves in his presence then he will have no regrets in feeding him to the one who lurks in the darkness (FRED). Team Laycool is ready for action and set to break the streak of champions being decrowned tonight. Michelle McCool is one of the favorites of Mickey and Catherine, so it is no wonder why she is getting so much time in the spotlight. Fitz Riot (formerly known as Billy Lee) introduces us to impending arrival of the “Elite”. He reveals that they are slated for a debut at the Ascendants Extravaganza on May 16th and that they will soon prove why they are the best tag team in the game. In the Women’s Tag Team Championship match Team Laycool successfully defend their gold against the former champions A Taste of Heaven. Decent match with an appropriate ending.
Crock finds himself in the final throes of his search for Mickey, in a dark hallway. He enters a room, which is even darker, but which seems to only be occupied and guarded by the Executioner. Executioner warns against Crock seeking a word with Mickey, noting that he is exceedingly paranoid about the intentions and germs of others. Crock insists and proceeds anyways. In Mickey’s lair it is total darkness. Crock seeks answers but the twisted Mickey delves into the betrayal and failures of all those around him to serve his interests. He demands that everyone finally display what it is that motivates them and promises to make everyone reveal their motives by the Finale Pay Per View, Motivation! Alundra Blayze is now standing by with Lawrence. She notes that she has indeed trained some of the best in this industry and how Living Dead Girl would be mistaken to overlook her. In the Women’s Championship Match, Alundra gives Living Dead Girl everything she’s got, almost defeating her in the process. It takes every last bit of energy in Living Dead Girl to defeat Blayze in the end!
Teo tells Lawrence Mason that he fulfilled a prophecy that no one should have ever doubted, by becoming the World Champion. He scoffs at the efforts of Attitude and Williams and promises that O’Malley will be soundly defeated tonight. Mike O’Malley then takes to the microphone in his interview with Lenny Mouse. O’Malley notes how he has long been passed over for other talent and that tonight he will prove his worth. In the Main Event, Teo defends his World Title against O’Malley. O’Malley puts up a respectable fight but Teo succeeds in the end in sound fashion. Before Teo has an opportunity to revel in his victory Petey Williams comes out and reveals that he will be choosing his Second of Three Title Challenges right here against Teo. Teo laughs, invites him in the ring, and warns that Petey should have been more conscious of his surroundings when he entered through the curtain. At that moment, El Giante comes through the curtain and decimates Williams, chokeslamming him into the ring. Teo calls for the match to start, and immediately finishes Petey off in an embarrassing loss for Petey. As Teo celebrates, he mocks Petey for wasting his opportunity, introduces El Giante as his new “Secret Weapon” bodyguard “courtesy of Mickey” and then holds the title up high (promising to do this for as long as he desires) to end the show!
SHOWCASE REBOUND – MAY 11TH, 2020
The special second consecutive edition of the Showcase (necessitated by the Covid Crisis) kicks off with a shot of Dragonfly arriving (management made it a point to promote the fact that he was making an appearance on the show, undoubtedly to boost ratings after EWA’s fourth consecutive victory over PWI, but I digress). After the official opening of the event, we get the Goddess Alexa Bliss continuing her insistence upon “Goddess Appreciation”. She berated the announce team for botching their call on the backstage segment last week and tore into the “ungrateul” women, such as Amazon. Alexa promised to put Amazon “six feet under” tonight (wait, is this a “Buried Alive Match”?). Amazon comes down, the two have a good match until Sasha spoils the momentum for Bliss, helping Amazon pick up the win.
Team Laycool is seen relishing their tag title reign. McCool tells Layla that they recently thought the wrestling world forgot about them until they reclaimed the spotlight. McCool suggested that they are the best tag team in the industry and that they may soon be wearing the Women’s and Immunity titles as well. The Hardy Boyz are seen having some problems. Matt is fighting some demons and Jeff is trying to help him keep it together. Matt is insistent that he needs to keep winning to keep it together. Jeff seems lost. Catherine again tries to make amends with Jackie, but Jackie fires back that her mother forfeited any rights to make peace when giving her up for adoption years ago. We then have a Fatal Four Way Tag Lsdder Match to determine the next challengers for Laycool. This brutal and chaotic battle leads to the Allure capturing the contract hanging above.
Madison Rayne catches up with Angelina Love in the hallway. Love insists on being left alone, but Rayne presses the issue, trying to encourage Love to come to her proverbial senses and restore the once great Independent stable: the Allure. Love is very much torn, and Rayne pokes harder, suggesting that Velvet and Gallows may be willing to forgive their beatdown at the hands of Love, because they just had a “great night”. Rayne leaves Love obviously in a state of internal conflict. Bray is sitting again in a dim lit room. He expresses remorse that “it comes to this” and that he is forced to “bring the darkness” to make everyone see the benefits of becoming a “firefly”. He then summons FRED, to “bring the darkness”. In the Handicap Match, Mr. Perfect and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart try their best to subdue FRED, but their efforts fails pretty quickly after Perfect is turned into a baseball bat being swung at Anvil. FRED ends the match in under five minutes. We then transition to the back seconds after FRED wins to see Drakus entering his locker room. Drakus sees a message on his wall: “RUN”.
Lawrence Mason is standing by with the Tag Team Champions, Lance and Robby Storm. Robby seems overly excited to team with his “amazing” father. Lance is obviously stunned by his son’s excitement, but doesn’t feel that anything is off. Jackie enters Harry Puddphucker’s office, and mentions that her mother tried to interact with her again. Harry shows that he understands “the temptation” of wanting to talk to Catherine, but he also warns about how manipulative the Mouse Family can be. He invites her to help him with his paperwork instead. Mike O’Malley meets with Jon Moxley in the locker room. O’Malley introduces himself as “The Best”, but he apparently annoyed Jon to the point of snapping. Moxley leaves him beaten down. We then see the Guerreros challenging the Storms for the Tag Team Championships. It is a perfectly normal and competitive match up until the point where Robby intentionally takes his father out with a Superkick! Robby leaves Lance for dead, setting him up to lose, but Lance fights back and actually wins!! At that moment, we then transition to a “Report” from Fitz Riot (the WPW Legend formerly known as Billy Lee). Riot brings us his “Dirt Sheet Review” of the tag match that we just watched complete with what he calls the “3 W’s of Tag Team Wrestling: What Works, What Won’t, and What’s Whack”. He denotes that the Guerreros “Work”, the Storms “Won’t”, and that it is “Whack” that no one is talking about “The Elite”. I’m getting the feeling that this is supposed to remind me of someone…
Teo and Attitude have a confrontation in Teo’s locker room. Attitude insists that Teo got off scot-free with their match at Fate’s Resurrection when Petey Williams interfered. Attitude demands a rematch, and Teo rejects him at first. Attitude pledges to put his career on the line at Motivation for the gold, and Teo happily accepts, but before he leaves he reminds Attitude of his new…gigantic…hired help. In the restroom Samoa Joe is preparing to leave when he is suddenly attacked by Taz, who latches on the Tazzmission. Officials burst on to the scene to break them up immediately. The Executioner stops Drew McIntyre as he is headed to the ring for his bout against Rhyno. Executioner informs McIntyre that Mickey pulled some strings for him as a sign of appreciation for his efforts at Fate’s Resurrection and that this match will be to determine a number one contender for the World Title. Executioner notes that Mickey has been a bit odd as of late, making decisions in the dark, but that he also wants Drew to both stop Rhyno from experiencing a second wind in his career and stop Teo from ending Attitude’s career. Drew expresses that he understands and proceeds. The Number One Contender’s Match (for a shot at the world title on the June 1st Episode of Legends) begins between Drew and Rhyno and it is a hell of a brawl. Ultimately, though, the bloody encounter leaves both men so exhausted that a dual clothesline leaves them in a double-pin situation. It is initially announced that there is no winner, but a subsequent correction is issued after communication with management that both men will be given a shot on June 1st!
Dragonfly participates in his exclusive interview with Lenny Mouse. Dragonfly is asked why he betrayed Mickey at Fate’s Resurrection, but he isn’t having it. He explains that Mickey gave up on him long ago, back in 2010 at Sundown when Mickey chose to help Blaster defeat him to become the last UWA (as well as USWA and WWF) Champion. He noted that Mickey left him to act alone when he disrupted the last HCW Show (Tumultuous Iniquity 2010), wherein he challenged Rhyno to one last match (which Rhyno rejected). He cited how Mickey fawned over Teo and made him the chosen one while letting Dragonfly become a victim of Robby Storm’s heinous attack in 2012 which left him out of commission for close to a year, and then pointed out how Mickey treated him like a failure after the loss to Randy Orton at From Dusk Til Dawn 2019. Dragonfly expressed that he acts on behalf of no one but himself, that he at one point allowed himself to forget that, but that he will soon remind everyone of why he is the greatest in the industry. The Women’s Champion Living Dead Girl comes out and taunts the women’s locker room, offering to destroy any of them who dare to try and take up her open challenge for the gold. Victoria stuns the crowd by making a comeback, answering the call. Victoria gives the champ quite the run for her money, eventually frustrating LDG so much that she willingly gets disqualified (which becomes Living Dead Girl’s first loss of the era) so as to save her title. Victoria has no time to celebrate, though, as Living Dead Girl double-hand chokeslams her to the outside of the ring. After the match we are then sent a special announcement by Chairman Murrey who announces that Motivation will be a two night event every year from now on!
ASCENDANTS EXTRAVAGANZA – MAY 18TH, 2020
The show opens up with a sloppy encounter between Cesaro and Wade Barrett. Both men had been on the shelf for a moment and they were trying to get back into groove of things. Things improved with the performance as the match progressed, which ultimately led to Cesaro getting the win.
We return from the commercial break and find the Crockterouge convening in the “Crock Show” lair or headquarters. Bossman is noticeably an unwilling participant as Crock enters the room and orders his “Almost Investigators” to go find some answers for an investigation about which only he knows the details. Bossman is aggravated with the task, but the Almost Sidekicks are used to this by now. The next match is a women’s tag team match between the IIconics and the Agency. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay are in a more serious and determined mood than they had been up to this point. The match has some mishaps at times but it wraps up nicely with a vicious-looking finisher by the IIconics (as they hit a leg drop over the back of their victim’s neck while the victim is in a wheelbarrow position), as Royce and Kay get their first victory.
Returning from the break we see The Agency trying to recover from their tag loss when they are subjected to mockery by Comic Nightmare. Starfire chides Sharon Carter and offers wrestling tips, which causes a big fight to break out between the teams and forces the officials to break it up. The next match is between Randy Savage and Mr. Kennedy. Savage interrupts Kennedy’s self-announcement and a brawl unfolds on the outside of the ring. The brawl ends only after Savage nails an elbow smash onto Kennedy through a table. The match never even gets a chance to start before we head to commercial break.
Crock’s investigation leads him to the hallway. He reveals to the audience that he can’t even trust his team and that he effectively must pursue the truth alone. Daisy Buffer appears behind him and startles him. Crock makes fun of her face after she calls herself the “hottest new star in the industry”. Crock wants to barf and so do I. We return to the ring for the Spotlight Interview, featuring Commissioner Slammu. Slammu addresses the success of EWA Dark and his impression of the progress of both Ascendants and the wrestling world. Lawrence goes to ask him about the brightest star featured on Ascendants but he is suddenly interrupted by Krazy Kid! Kid comes down and we are reminded of the psychotic feuds between them dating all the way back to the WPW days in the spring of 1996. Kid apologizes for threatening to cover himself in Slammu’s shark juices back in 2008 and insists that Slammu give him a job. Slammu promises to ponder it and then is left so confused that he can barely finish the interview.
We return from commercial break and see Crock alone in an unknown Mmouse Enterprises office. He is skimming through papers and cackling to himself, confident that he has discovered some truth. He pledges that the investigation with continue. Scott Nash is seen waiting in the parking lot as he sees Drakus walking by. Drakus tells Nash that he is being stalked and that he is trying to understand what is going on. Nash has to leave (with his ride having arrived) and Drakus is left to endure a creepy disembodied encounter from Bray Wyatt. Wyatt notes that Drakus is part of an “old apparatus of darkness which must be dismantled” and that Drakus has to be the next target in order to bring the “light” forward. The lights go out on Drakus as we cut back to the ring. Amber Gallows is now set to take on Daisy Buffer with Velvet Sky at ringside. Buffer gives Gallows a hellacious run for her money until Angelina Love enters the fray and attacks Buffer. Gallows picks up the undeserved win as Love backs away through the entrance way.
The semi-long awaited debut of “The Elite” (Miz and Morrison) is set to take place next as they meet the War Raiders. Erik and Ivar are waiting in the ring and we are all soon treated to one of the best entrances in the business’s history. Miz and Morrison come down to the ring and the match kicks off. This was easily the best men’s tag team match of the era, and it may have been the best tag team match of the era…period. Miz and Morrison pull off an impressive victory. Miz and Morrison finally speak, proclaiming that they are the new standard for tag team wrestling.
Fitz Riot returns with “The Dirt Sheet Review” as he enumerates the “3 W’s of Professional Tag Team Wrestling”. He praises the “Elite” as an example of “What Works”, citing that they represent the future of this division as a stark contrast to the tired, old approach represented by teams like the War Raiders. He cites the Raiders as an example of “What Won’t (Work)”, and more specifically cites their representation of the old days of tag teams. Finally, Fitz underlines “What’s Whack”, as he condemns those who seem to never be satisfied, suggesting how people are being impatient and insisting that the product of the Elite be rushed. He promises that the Elite will leave you begging for more…soon enough. In the back, Angelina Love and Madison Rayne cross paths. Rayne wants to know if Love is finally starting to come to her senses, but Love refuses to chat with her. Rayne then goes out and faces Taya Valkyrie in what was hands-down a match of the year candidate. Rayne pulled off the win, but barely. What a night of action!!
ASCENDANTS – MAY 23RD, 2020
The show kicks off with a decent match between Diamond Dallas Page and Shinsuke Nakamura. DDP has long been a loyal member of the Mmouse Enterprises family and he did a great job performing here up until he was nailed with Nakamura’s patented Knee Strike and pinned.
We then see an outstanding triple threat match featuring Ariel, Maria, and Sasha Banks. A lot of psychology going into this match which should have been on the main roster, because you had the drama of Maria needing to secure a victory to improve her record and save her career before the end of the season. You had the drama of the rumors about Sasha being in talks with management about a possible trade with EWA. Finally, you had the draw of the fact that Ariel is a former great women’s champion. This was my favorite match of the night which found Sasha tapping out Ariel to get the win!
In the Spotlight Interview, Matt Taven is grilled by Lawrence Mason. Lawrence didn’t take it easy on Matt, either. Matt has struggled a little in his opening experience with PWI – despite a high-profile victory over RVD in the Premier tournament – and Matt expressed his frustration with being put in segments with the Crock (who he vocally regards as an idiot). Matt noted that he might consider jumping ship to the EWA (something which absolutely caused frustration with management) and he promised that people will soon find out why he is the real deal.
Gail Kim and Sunny then put on a very competitive match. Sunny reminding everyone why she was a dominant Women’s Champion in the Fourth Era was a nice surprise, as she has caught a lot of flack by critics in this era. Gail came out on top in what was definitely a close second to the triple threat match earlier on.
Andrade then comes out with Zelina Vega (his business manager) as he prepares to square off against X-Pac. X-Pac and Andrade do a decent job in the ring, but the men were outshined on this evening by the women. Andrade gets the win and commentary ponders what Andrade will be capable of doing when facing “real” challenges like Teo and Attitude.
ASYLUM – MAY 25TH, 2020
We kick off this episode of Asylum with Mr. Executioner taking questions from the press. He tells us that he is here to help address any concerns about Mickey’s mental state, after hearing rumors abound that the Co-Vice Chair is losing his mind. The press is not patient with Executioner as they grill him about Mickey’s whereabouts and when we can expect to see him again. Executioner soon gives up and ends the press conference as we kick off the show.
After the opening the first bout is a triple threat tag team match to determine the number one contenders for the Summer Spotlight Pay Per View. Los Guerreros take on the Untouchables and Mickey’s Henchmen. This match was a bit chaotic and commentary acknowledged that the official – Road Dogg – had lost complete control of the situation. Three men were in the ring at the same time and could only tag their partners. The Untouchables looked pretty good for the first time in quite a while and Mickey’s Henchmen (Abyss and Kurgan) were quite dominant. In the end, though, Eddie and Chavo proved again why they are one of the best teams in the industry as they came out victorious.
Fitz Riot returns to us with his next “Dirt Sheet Review”. He tells us that the Guerreros understand “What Works”, the sudden placement of the Henchmen in this are “What’s Whack”, and “What Won’t Work” is the fact that the referee had no apparent idea of what he was doing. He then introduces his special guests, Miz and Morrison! Miz and Morrison claim that Fitz was never their mouthpiece, but a fan/advocate reporting on the state of tag team wrestling (with a bias towards them). They ultimately proclaim that they will change the game and will soon brandish the tag titles.
Molly Holly is talking to Ivory – presumably about Ivory’s upcoming match – and the IIconics interrupt them. IIconics make light of Ivory and Holly’s tag name (the “Undying Legends”) and note that they are experiencing a resurgence. Holly mocks their confidence, noting that they have only won a single match. The two teams then lay the groundwork for a future encounter.
Kurt Angle is then walking through the hallway as he is stopped by Billy Gunn. Angle is confused about Gunn being here since he was forced to retire. Gunn tells Angle that he should consider doing the same, because it would allow him to finally have some free time with family and to fully heal. Angle insists that he still has much to prove in the business.
Sasha Banks then takes on Ivory in what was yet another outstanding women’s match. The women’s matches in PWI are easily some of the best matches the industry has ever seen. Sasha proves herself to be a rising star and secures her second consecutive victory.
Robby Storm is then seen stretching in his locker room as his father comes in adorned with both of their tag titles. Robby tells Lance that he looks ridiculous and Lance is distraught that his son won’t stand by his side. Robby basically tells Lance that he should have let the Guerreros win the titles back (they will have another chance now at Spotlight) and that he doesn’t want any part of this team. Lance is left depressed in the locker room alone.
Sasha is about to leave the arena when she is suddenly attacked by Alexa Bliss. Bliss mockingly congratulates Sasha on finally getting some wins and then issues a challenge for Motivation for Sasha to prove herself against the “Premier Athlete”. Sasha fights back and accepts as officials are audibly called to break them up. We later find out that this will be a Street Fight.
Carmella is standing with Lawrence Mason who grills her like he did with Taven on Saturday. She points out that she has been overlooked by the promotion and that she will prove – when given the chance – that she is a money maker.
Madison Rayne and Carmella then put on one hell of a match. I wonder when watching these women whether the guys should all go on leave for a month and just let the women take over. Seriously. The match ends with Rayne reigning supreme (say that five times fast).
Scott Nash is then seen entering a dim lit press conference room presumably back at HQ1 in Memphis. Executioner arrives and Nash states that Mickey summoned him here. Executioner confirms and explains Mickey’s absence. He reminds Nash of the business relationship between Nash and Mickey and how Mickey values him as a reliable leader who has never let Mickey down when it counts. Nash is frustrated with being asked to lead in another one of Mickey’s adventures and we are left wondering if he will take Mickey up on his apparent plan.
Madison Rayne is then confronted by an aggravated Angelina Love. Love chokes her up against the wall and insists that Rayne leave her alone. Rayne says that she won’t stop until she sees that passionate “sparkle” in Love’s eyes, but agrees to leave her alone…for tonight. Love is not happy with the constant harassment and is left infuriated.
Drakus and Kurt Angle then put on a great match of their own until the lights suddenly go out. FRED attempts to attack but is suddenly unable to move for unknown reasons. The lights finally come back on and you see that Kane has a hold of FRED by the throat. FRED kicks him back and roars like the beast he is before disappearing yet again. The referee, due to the chaos and not know what Kane is going to do, calls for the bell. Kane initially goes to attack Drakus, but changes his mind and then chokeslams Angle outside of the ring. He then challenges FRED to an Inferno Match at Motivation to send FRED to hell.
Drakus is then on his way out of the building but he is suddenly ambushed by Strowman and Scarecrow as Bray arrives. Bray insists that he must bring an end to the darkness on behalf of his “Fireflies” and that Drakus is the last remnant after Kane of the old “Apparatus of Fear and Darkness”. He challenges Drakus to a match at Motivation and the scene goes black. We later find out that this will be a Buried Alive Match.
Bossman is then seen trying to leave the restroom when the Crock arises behind him…a little too close for Bossman’s comfort. Crock – calling Bossman “deputy” – asks if Bossman got the information he wanted. Bossman is confused about why he was asked to retrieve the info as he hands something to the Crock. Crock then exchanges something with Bossman which accidentally turns out to be a dick pic. He quickly gives Bossman the real item that Bossman purportedly wanted as the two depart.
Mark Henry then confront Teo in Teo’s personal locker room. Teo offers Mark a spot on “Team Teo”, but Mark declares that he wants the PWI Gold. Teo expresses that Mark missed out on cashing in on his opportunity before the end of the season. Mark tells him to watch his back, Teo reminds him that El Giante will do that for him as Giante steps up behind an unintimidated Henry.
We then have our main event, a return of the popular Open Hardcore Four Corner Elimination match to determine a Number One Contender for the Women’s Immunity Championship. We see some awesome chaos involving about a dozen or so women who desperately try to get in the ring. After the pandemonium Allie, Zelina Vega, Emma, and Stephanie McMahon wind up being the four participants. After the ringside area is cleared, we see some more awesome action unfold. Emma was surprisingly the first woman eliminated, followed by Stephanie McMahon, and then Allie picks up the victory over Zelina. What a match!
ASCENDANTS – MAY 30TH, 2020
The event kicks off with a match between Test and Dolph Ziggler. The commentary team of Ross and Venom remind us that the pressure is on Test to win since he is one of 8 superstars put “on notice” by Chairman Murrey following their loss at the “Make or Break” Challenge. Murrey reportedly keeps instructing Jim and Ric to repeat this every so often so that the audience and the others “on notice” don’t forget the stakes. The match is great, actually, as it looks like Test is going to win (commentary also notes that Test and Triple H have formed a tag team and they will be debuting together as a team on Legends). Ziggler, however, gets the win.
The next match is a showdown between Ivory and Sable. Sable is another one who must win by the end of the season to save her career. Ivory feels the heat from Sable’s heightened efforts and manages to successfully beat Sable back, nailing her “Ivory Twist” finisher to seal the deal.
Sasha Banks is then featured in the “Spotlight Interview” with Lawrence. Sasha addresses the rumors that she has been in talks with EWA and PWI about a possible trade in exchange for Becky Lynch. She confirms such and justifies her interest in being traded by noting her unhappy status in terms of how she has been booked with Alexa Bliss and has had no other opportunities beyond such. She promises to leave PWI as a “Boss” and to throw “[PWI] management’s favorite plaything in the trash [at Motivation]”. Stellar promo.
We are then treated to a match between Allie (the number one contender for Asuka’s Immunity) and Stephanie McMahon. It is noted that Stephanie – a former women’s champion – is one of those in danger of being fired. These two put on a great and fast-paced match with a lot of good wrestling moves. Ultimately, Allie overwhelms Stephanie with her “Alley-Oop Stunner” to get the win!
In the main event, we have Triple H (last one on notice for the evening) going toe to toe with Scorpion. Commentary reminds us of Triple H’s impending tag match with Test on Monday and notes Scorpion’s time in HCW. Scorpion puts on a spectacular performance here out-wrestling Triple H and almost seals a victory, but the Cerebral Assassin manages to pick up the win!
LEGENDS – JUNE 1ST, 2020
We kick off the show with Catherine greeting Chairman Murrey. Murrey confirms to Catherine that he needs a slice of time in the show to make some important announcements pertaining to Motivation, and we’re off to start the program.
The opening bout is another Open Hardcore Four Corner Elimination Match to name Petey Williams challenger for the Immunity Championship. We see all kinds of chaos here with names like Perfect, Anvil, Taz, Samoa Joe, Tiny, Christopher Daniels, and even Brock Lesnar trying to get into the match. Taz and Samoa Joe pretty much deny each other entry, Marty Scurll prevents Lesnar from getting in (and when Scurll gets in the ring, Lesnar scowls at him while the ring area is being cleared). The four lucky men to enter the match after the chaos were Kurt Angle, Marty Scurll, Jon Moxley, and Jeff Jarrett. More insanity ensues, but we ultimately see Moxley rout everyone else as he steamrolls his way to victory heading towards a rematch encounter between him and Williams!
Chairman Murrey is then seen standing by with Lawrence Mason. Murrey recaps everything that has been scheduled for Motivation so far and then notes that the superstars who haven’t fared well will have a chance on both nights to grab the proverbial spotlight in a set of “Last Chance Battle Royals” (one for the men, and one for the women). He notes that whoever wins may get a championship opportunity in the future, but that the best thing will be that they end the season on a good note.
Jeff Hardy is then seen trying to make sure his brother Matt’s head is in the game, but Matt starts speaking gibberish about the two being “Masters of the Universe”. Matt has clearly lost control of himself and Jeff is clearly worried about what this means for their match tonight.
Catherine is talking to Murrey as he is preparing to leave the building when the two of them are suddenly bum rushed by Brandon Lee who appears frustrated by STILL being overlooked around here and being denied an opportunity despite being one of the best and most loyal stars in the company. Murrey tells Lee that he hears him loud and clear and takes it upon himself to schedule a match at Spotlight where Mark Henry will defend his Championship opportunity against Lee and that the winner will face the World Champion on the first night of Motivation!! Lee is pleased as he leaves and Murrey finally departs.
We are then treated to a great encounter between the rising star Allie – who will challenge Asuka for the Women’s Immunity Championship at Motivation – and the international superstar Gail Kim. Allie looks like she is about to pull off a stunning win over Kim when suddenly Asuka sneaks out from under the ring and puts Allie to sleep with the Asuka Lock and then a martial arts kick to the head. Kim nails a moonsault on Allie for good measure and secures the win. After the match, Asuka and Kim engage in a great staredown.
Lance is seen struggling to do pushups with two championships wrapped around him. Robby enters the room and calls him an idiot for trying. Lance again pleads with his son to take his gold back and help him retain the gold at Spotlight. Robby rejects his father yet again, saying he should just give up.
Taz attacks Samoa Joe in the back and it is broken up swiftly by Catherine. Catherine schedules a submission match for them at Motivation and demands that they leave the building at once.
Lawrence Mason is now in the parking lot based on word that we have a special guest arriving. Suddenly, Asylum’s Dragonfly arrives and is promptly questioned by Mason. Mason inquires why Dragonfly is here and Dragonfly responds that he is merely here to check out Mickey’s new golden boy, up and close.
The next match is a Falls Count Anywhere, Fatal Four Way to determine the Number One Contenders for the Men’s Tag Championships at Motivation. AOP, YMCA, The New TNT, and the Hardy Boyz all enter the fray and it is chaotic from the start. AOP looks dominant at first but soon find themselves in a battle with the YMCA as B-Rad and Slave successfully isolate each man from one another outside the ring. Matt Hardy struggles with his personality split for a while as Jeff is forced to carry the weight of his team’s efforts, and it looks for a moment like the New TNT could actually steal this one, but after Matt and Jeff are smashed head first into each other Matt suddenly snaps out of it and becomes productive as he and Jeff secure the victory!
As we return from the break, Fitz Riot welcomes us to another edition of the Dirt Sheet Review! He explains that the Hardy Boyz still have something that “will work”, but that the inner struggle of Matt Hardy “won’t work”. He notes that it is still “whack” that the “greatest tag team”, the Elite haven’t been booked for an opportunity at this championship.
AOP are seen recovering from their match when YMCA comes in, through a set of weights at them and attack as they mock the AOP for not going to the gym enough. B-Rad reveals that they have just received word that the teams will have a Tornado Tag match at Motivation!
Mike O’Malley sees Jon Moxley – who knocked him out weeks ago – and congratulates him on the win earlier tonight. Moxley stares him down as O’Malley challenges him for a simple grudge match at the Spotlight. Moxley speaks – for I think the first time ever!! – and accepts the challenge…then promptly knocks O’Malley out again!!
Our next match was to determine the Number One Contender for Living Dead Girl’s Women’s Championship. Victoria and Angelina tear the freaking house down in this match (I have said repeatedly that the women’s division has completely taken over this era and I love it). Love is obviously enduring her psychological struggle as she becomes more vicious than usual, and Victoria’s resilience only makes matters worse. Love nails two of her finishers and fails to secure the victory, Victoria nails hers and pulls it off!! Living Dead Girl comes through the curtain and stares down Victoria (the woman who gave her the biggest scare of this era) and Love loses her mind after she comes to.
Teo is preparing for match in the main event when Petey Williams comes in to “wish him luck”. Williams informs Teo that he will be cashing in on his final championship opportunity on the first night of Motivation!! This means that world champion will have THREE title defenses over the course of the weekend!! Teo is extremely unhappy as we cut to another scene.
Angelina Love is stopped by Madison Rayne who wants to note that she saw Love changing for the better. Love threatens to beat the hell out of Rayne and then delivers a strike which takes Rayne down. She then grabs Rayne by the throat and demands a match at Motivation, Rayne accepts. The Allure then emerge as they congratulate Rayne on her work thus far. All three seem pleased with themselves.
Catherine is then entering her office when she spots Executioner sitting at her desk. She is not happy to see him and demands to know why he is here. He notes that he is here because Mickey wants to see her. Executioner leaves and Catherine looks around for her father. Then the lights dim and Catherine looks horrified as we hear Mickey’s voice. She asks him what’s wrong with him as we hear his psychotic laugh.
In the Triple Threat Match Main Event, Teo comes out to face Drew McIntyre and Rhyno. Rhyno focuses heavily on Drew throughout the match and never gets a chance at offense with Teo. Drew manages to build up steam as he is forced to fend off both Rhyno and Teo. Rhyno is taken out of the picture and Drew nails a monstrous Claymore on Teo, but as he is about to secure victory, Dragonfly comes into the picture from the crowd and hits the Dragon Twist Driver on Drew, which permits a flabbergasted Teo to cover for the victory. Teo and Dragonfly seem to stare each other down for a moment as Teo leaves and then Dragonfly enters the ring. Dragonfly explains his action, saying that he could care less about Teo (noting that he will deal with him at a later time), that Rhyno is basically old news to him (Rhyno – Dragonfly’s longtime enemy – stares him down as he exits), but that he has noticed that Mickey has taken a special interest in Drew as his new “golden boy”, replacing Teo, even. Dragonfly notes that he lives to make Mickey’s life a living hell at the moment, from spoiling Mickey’s War Games to preventing Drew from stopping Teo’s march to Motivation. He declares that Drew is going to have to work harder than that to become the new “guy” and that said path leads through him, at Motivation. Drew accepts and we have another blockbuster match set for the grand pay per view event!!
ASCENDANTS – JUNE 6TH, 2020
The show opens up with a one-on-one encounter between Sasha Banks and Ariel. Ariel is often talked up about her amazing accomplishments in the past: specifically what she did in the Fourth Era in the UWA. In this era, Ariel has struggled a little, but not too much to slip too far away from the title picture. With the rumors still swirling around about Sasha’s departure and with the match with Alexa looming large on the horizon at Motivation, Sasha’s ultimate win – in an impressive way – meant everything. She, AGAIN, tapped out Ariel to the Bank Statement. What a way to end her PWI run if this really is near the end.
In the next match, we are set to see the legendary Untouchables take on the Elite. Except, the Elite – after their over-the-top entrance – no-shows. We are then treated to a special edition of “Dirt Sheet Review” by Fitz Riot! Riot explains that the Elite are hard-workers (they are “What Works”), but they are not going to work under the “Ascendants” banner anymore (that “Won’t Work”). He complains that the continued booking of the Eilte on this show is “Whack” and that they need a grander stage. He then introduces his “special guests”, The Elite! Miz and Morrison are sitting beside him and Morrison has a very EXTREMELY big bandage around his hand. He explains that the bandage is due to a fingernail clipping accident and that this is a reason why they couldn’t compete tonight. Miz encourages his partner to fight through the pain and Morrison states that he will be feeling better in a week…at Spotlight. They issue a challenge to Untouchables to fight at that PPV, and Commissioner Slammu reportedly granted the match immediately. Cutting back to the ring, the Untouchables are pissed as they leave.
Lawrence Mason conducts a Spotlight Interview with Scott Nash. Nash talks about his iconic past in the industry and how he was long known as one of Mickey’s “Pillars of the Locker Room”. Noting that he is the last “Pillar” standing, Nash states that an old ally of his recently forced him to take a long, hard look at himself to remember who he is. Nash complained that too many guys in the back locker room don’t appreciate the business enough and don’t have the hunger it takes to win. He promises that things will be changing very soon, for the better. As long as he has a say in it, Nash guarantees that he will be the leader the locker room needs.
Dolph Ziggler then takes on Ken Shamrock. Shamrock, despite his age, still has an immense amount of talent. While he is not as unhinged as his younger brother Frank, Ken is still a very dangerous competitor. On a number of occasions it looked like Ziggler was done for, but Ziggler managed to pull through using some shady in-ring work to get in a low blow and nail the Zig Zag for the victory. After the match, Ziggler is leaving when he is suddenly taken out by Test, who leaves Ziggler laying for all to see.
In the main event, we have Molly Holly and Ivory (the Undying Legends) square off against the IIconics. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay have successfully revitalized their careers since they have jumped back into the picture with a more ruthless approach than they had before. This match was a great way to end the regular season of the PWI. Both teams really brought it, and the trickery of the IIconics which aided them in the end made for a just victory while also letting the Undying Legends remain strong looking. This division is really heating up!
Slammu then closes the show by giving us a rundown of the card for the Summer Spotlight. Not a bad card, to be honest. A LOT to look forward to!!
SUMMER SPOTLIGHT – JUNE 13TH, 2020
The final Spotlight of the season kicks off with a Last Man Standing match between Randy Savage and Mr. Kennedy. Savage had attacked Kennedy before a previously scheduled match between them – we would later learn that this was because Savage was tired of hearing Kennedy talk – and that match had been ruled a no contest. So, Commissioner Slammu slated this match to make up for it. Savage displayed to the world that he still has what it takes to keep up in the ring, but Kennedy ultimately pulled off the victory after a devastating Kennedy Roll through a table!
In the parking lot, Brandon Lee catches up with Chairman Murrey and thanks him for the opportunity to shine tonight. Lee rehashes his complaints that no one else was seeing his potential anymore and then Murrey cuts him off. Murrey notes that he gave Lee this match to shut him up and force him to prove that he has what it takes to not be a fluke like the last time he had an opportunity like this about ten years ago. Lee looks determined, but humbled by Murrey berating him.
It is now time for the Elite to show up…if it suits them. The Untouchables are again ready to wrestle and we are all pleasantly surprised when Miz and Morrison decide to partake. The match is pretty lopsided in favor of Miz and Morrison. Veterans and former legendary multi-time Tag Champions Clean and Drake Nash get a little bit of offense into the fight, but they are mostly dominated by the Elite.
After the match, on cue, Fitz Riot returns for his “Dirt Sheet Review”. He offers a glowing take on the Elite as “what works”, being the “future of tag team wrestling”. He condemns veteran teams like the Untouchables, Hardy Boyz, and even the Guerreros as what “won’t work” (saying that their style is dying out), and then he explains that it is “Whack” that the Elite are not yet in the title conversation despite being the most interesting new thing in professional wrestling today!
Test then looks to defend his career against Dolph Ziggler. Now, this isn’t a career match, but Chairman Murrey’s ultimatum to all the losers of the “Make or Break Challenge” about a month ago included a rule that each of the men and women losing had to improve their records by the end of the season to avoid a forced retirement. Test was successful in this effort, but it was a hard fought battle.
Lawrence Mason is seen trying to leave the restroom when Crock interrupts him and leaves him uncomfortable. Crock demands an interview to unveil the “secrets” he’s holding, Mason pushes back, arguing that Crock literally never wants Mason to conduct any backstage interviews on anything related to Ascendants. Crock insists and Mason buckles, but then Crock uses the opportunity for an interview to say that everyone will just have to wait for a “bigger stage”. It was actually funnier than I am making it seem, but I am trying to get through this damn summary.
In the Elimination Tag Match we see another show-stealing performance from the women’s division as Comic Nightmare (Starfire and Thundra) took on the Agency (Sharon Carter and Mockingbird). It was a knock-down drag out fight. Carter and Mockingbird did everything they could to isolate each of their towering opponents and succeeded in eliminating Starfire. However, when the beastly Thundra got ahold of them, she dominated and single handedly won the match. Great match overall.
Jon Moxley is in the back and getting ready for his match when he is approached by “The Guy”. Guy asked to be Moxley’s manager (“The Manager for The Mox”). Moxley refused and threatened Guy with violence. Guy left in one piece.
In the next match, Moxley absolutely destroyed Mike O’Malley. The match had to hold a record for the era with how fast it was. O’Malley probably had two offensive moves that he got in, but Moxley made quick work of “The Best”. At least O’Malley got his rematch, right? Suddenly, Moxley is looking like a serious threat to Petey Williams and even Teo again.
Amazon and Alundra Blayze cross paths in the hallway en route to their landmark match between women’s wrestling legends. They seem like they are ready for a respectable battle and they walk out to the entrance way together.
In the match pitting Amazon and Alundra against each other we are treated to one of the best matches of the season. Both women came out trying to prove something about themselves. It was noted by commentary that this could be one of the last matches wherein we ever see either of them involved. After the classic, Amazon came out on top and the two stood together in a rare show of true sportswomanship!
Mark Henry is arriving at the building just in time for his match as Teo stops him in his tracks. Teo tells Henry that he doesn’t think he will make it to Motivation. Henry assures him that he will, but Teo tells Henry that he knows a thing or two about “winning” and “making friends”. Then, El Giante shows up and attacks Henry, leaving him laying on the ground.
In the match to determine the Number One Contender for the World Championship we initially see Brandon Lee standing alone in the ring. Mark Henry almost gets counted out and arrives late. When Mark does show up it is with a limp and with him favoring his back. Lee capitalizes on this with ease and gets the upper hand for much of the first part of the match. Henry displays his resilient power, though, and looks like he may wind up winning until Lee secures a surprise momentum shift in his favor to get the victory!
In the locker room we see Lance Storm completely alone. He is quiet and emotionally defeated. It appears that his issues with Robby are finally starting to get to him as he leaves the locker room.
In the main event for the Tag Team Championship, the challenging Guerreros are hyped and more ready than ever as Lance comes down by himself. The commentators make it a point to remind us of how things have come around “full circle” with Lance having almost won the Tag Championships single-handedly for him and Robby back in December during the ladder match won by the Guerreros, and now he finds himself defending against the first champs of the era. Lance puts up a hell of a fight, but his momentum is suddenly ended when Robby’s music hits and his son comes down to the ring. The Guerreros manage to use the distraction to the favor and pin Lance to the mat for the one, two, three! However, after Robby comes in the ring and starts chiding his father for being a failure, saying that he wants Lance at Motivation, the Guerreros try to attack Robby from behind too, but they fail as Robby looks to teach Lance a lesson in “how it’s done”. Robby beats down the Guerreros and as he starts getting in Lance’s face, Lance hits him with the Superkick and Robby lands on Eddie. To the surprise of everyone, the ref starts counting the cover: one, two, three!! We are then reminded of the Pay Per View rules for the Tag Team Championships wherein both champions must be eliminated and since Robby showed up and with Lance having been pinned, Robby was the legal man!!
Lance throws the other tag title on his son as he walks away with the other belt. What an end to the show as we head now to the two big nights of MOTIVATION 7!!
MOTIVATION 7: NIGHT ONE – JUNE 20TH, 2020
We kick off the extravaganza with a hellaciously good opening bit with great pyro. Then, we set up for the opening bout: the 10-Man Last Chance Battle Royal! A number of great stars in this one: Scott Nash, Rob Van Dam, Marty Scurll, Jeff Jarrett, Randy Savage, and even Brock Lesnar! Lesnar make a b-line for Scurll, who he wants to seek revenge against for embarrassing him in the Open Hardcore match a few weeks ago. Unfortunately for Lesnar, Scurll eliminates him AGAIN!! Lesnar comes in and decimates Marty, but he also obliterates a number of referees in the process (he received about 500,000 in fines for this, by the way). Savage comes to the aid of Nash more than once, but he is himself eliminated before we get to see everything come to a head. The final two, though, wind up being Nash and Scurll, but before Scurll can embarrass Nash, Lesnar comes back in again and destroys Marty one more time. Nash eliminates Marty with a vicious powerbomb to the outside!
In the back, we see that the Authors of Pain are getting ready for their Tornado Tag Match. Fitz Riot makes an appearance to offer them advice. Fitz tells us all that he was a tag team expert back in WPW (reminding us of his dominant tag team with Blaster at the time). The AOP tell Fitz that they are listening as we cut to the YMCA. YMCA, by contrast, are working out…together. E-Dawg interrupts them and tells them to stop acting like “Fools” if they want to defeat the AOP. He gives them his card and leaves them back to their…workout.
We then have the Tornado Tag Match. AOP appear dominant as ever, but YMCA – who brought E-Dawg along – are well-prepared to defend themselves. The match is a great reminder of why PWI’s tag team division is the envy of the wrestling world at the moment as both teams tear the house down. Ultimately, and surprisingly, B-Rad and Slave pick up the win with a vicious version of the B-Radical!
The world champion Teo, and his protector El Giante arrive in the parking lot. Teo is understandably dreading the weekend ahead, but he is confident in his “friend”. At this point we are then treated to a video package summing up the journey that both Teo and Lee are embarking here tonight and tomorrow.
In the world title match, it is the first of three “Best of Three Falls” Matches for the championship, and the match does not disappoint. While Teo gets the first fall, Brandon Lee proves to be a resilient competitor as he takes the fight right to Teo and secures a resounding second fall. With the ref distracted, though, El Giante gets involved and helps Teo avoid a devastating loss. Teo winds up getting the third fall and winning the match!
Lance Storm is getting ready for the Tag Team Championship match against the Hardy Boyz, but he is taken off guard when he encounters the “Broken” Matt Hardy. Matt promises that this match will be “WONDERFUL” and laughs weirdly as he walks to the ring. Lance is at a loss for words.
Just before the match starts for the Tag Team Championships, it is revealed by Michael Buffer that Chairman Murrey has made this match a Fatal Four Way: adding Los Guerreros and the Elite to the match! The match is one of the best on the card! High flying and perfect chaotic action ensues, with Lance fighting by himself the whole time. The Elite, after all of the insanity, end up picking up the victory. As Jeff Hardy leaves, he is dismayed by Matt’s swift plight into insanity, and Lance Storm’s face drips in blood (he was lacerated earlier after an incredible Unprettier executed by Chavo Guerrero) and he reaches out for Robby, who taunts him once again.
Fitz Riot returns with a Dirt Sheet Review! Fitz states that the Elite – the New Tag Team Champions – are everything that “works”, because they listened to his advice. He then explains that the AOP (and any team, for that matter) not listening to his advice “won’t work”. What’s “Whack” – according to Fitz – is the current state of Tag Team Wrestling, but the Elite are well on their way to fixing that…again, according to Mr. Riot.
Madison Rayne has a little pow-wow with the Allure. Velvet Sky and Amber Gallows are checking on Rayne to make sure she knows what the plan is. Madison assures them that she can see the change beginning within Love. The Allure tells her that they hope she is right as we move on to a video package about the upcoming match.
Angelina Love and Madison Rayne then get ready to square off, and it is quite a doozy. These two do battle like only the women seem to be capable of. Why is it that the women keep stealing the show?!! Angelina delves into a far more brutal side of her psyche as she targets ruthlessly the right arm of Madison Rayne. The match becomes a somewhat lop-sided brawl, and while Rayne gets some good offense in, Love wins the bout with authority! However, she doesn’t stop there. She continues the insane assault on her one-time friend, leaving her in an injured state.
Asuka and Cornette are then standing by with Lawrence Mason. Cornette talks about his past of being able to spot dominant talent, and he notes how Asuka is no different. He promises that it doesn’t matter how many opponents the “Empress of Tomorrow” has, she will reign supreme! Allie and Gail Kim are then seen in the locker room. Allie confronts Kim about her getting injected into this match. Kim mocks Allie, noting the significant salary disparity between them. Kim welcomes Allie to her “ring” and the two get ready for the match.
The Triple Threat for the Women’s Immunity Championship turns out to be quite the barn burner itself. Allie and Kim desperately do everything possible to keep each other away from winning, while Asuka attempts to deliver her patented Asuka Lock time after time. After the chaotic brawl, Asuka finally nails a martial arts kick to Allie’s face with Kim having already been incapacitated, as Asuka picks up the victory! The lights then suddenly go completely out! Even in the back locker room, where you see the other three officials chatting, the lights completely go out, and then…”YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE DOWN HERE!!”
This leads us to a video package about tonight’s Inferno Match! In an undisclosed location, you see Kane arriving near the fire pit, followed quickly by the demonic FRED. FRED and Kane go at it for a moment as both beasts attempt to throw the other into the pit! FRED’s power, though, appears greater than ever, as he quickly overwhelms Kane and lands an incredible Plummet to Hell which sends Kane into the PIT!! The match is over, as Kane was sent into the flames.
Drew McIntyre is then seen getting ready for his match against Dragonfly. Drew is approached by the Executioner, who informs Drew that Mickey “is watching”. Mickey wants Drew to “take care of Dragonfly”, Drew understands his mission and we move on to another video package.
This standard singles match between Drew and Dragonfly turns out to be another potential classic encounter. Billed as a battle between a former Icon of Mickey’s choosing and Mickey’s new interest, Dragonfly puts Drew to the test. Drew nearly wins the damn thing, but he underestimates Dragonfly at his own peril, as Dragonfly nails the Dragon Twist Driver, secures the victory, and politely informs Drew that he’s “not ready”.
Lawrence Mason is now standing by with the Immunity Champion and the Premier Athlete: Petey Williams! Williams is confident that he will get the victory tonight. He explains that he never trusted Teo’s offers or word, citing the betrayal of Attitude by Teo and the pile of betrayed interests throught Teo’s career. Williams notes that he made his own path and that even with Teo’s help during the tournament he was the right victor in that contest over Moxley. In the back, Teo is conversing with El Giante. Teo says that he actually thinks he can do this alone without El Giante, and he insists that the giant stay in the locker room. El Giante does not seem to agree as he is left behind.
Then, in our MAIN EVENT, Teo again defends the PWI World Championship in a best of three falls match! Teo and Williams put on a hell of a fight and Teo manages to get the first fall (again), and as Williams appears poised to get the next fall, El Giante defies Teo’s wishes and makes his way into the ring anyway. However, instead of attacking Williams, Giante attacks TEO! Teo avoids being chokeslammed and fights back. Now, he is dealing with two foes, but because Williams is immune from punishment he can’t be disqualified! Teo, still, manages to survive the encounter, and despite being hit with both the chokeslam and the Canadian Destroyer at points during the bout, Teo actually secures the second fall and wins anyway!!
What an end to night one!!
MOTIVATION 7: NIGHT TWO – JUNE 21ST, 2020
The last night of the Season Finale kicks off with another glorious bang! We get things started with our Women’s Last Chance Battle Royal. Stars like Paige, Emma, Tessa Blanchard, Stephanie, Sunny, Maria, and Taya Valkyrie are joined by a handful of others for this mayhem. The match itself has a set of different stories being told, primarily with respect to the fact that more women involved are fighting for their careers compared with the number of men who were doing the same last night. It comes down to another great group in the final four, and Sunny becomes one of the disappointing eliminations courtesy of Maria. Taya follows her over the top as well and we see Emma and Maria getting ready to battle it out for the final slot, but Sunny spoils Maria’s effort to win the bout when she pulls on Maria’s arm, causing her to topple over, but Emma comes with as well, causing a double-elimination. The officials converse and decide that both Emma and Maria landed at the same time and are therefore joint winners of the match!
Sasha is visited by Amazon, who warns that Alexa has something up her sleeve. Sasha thanks Amazon for the concern, but notes that she is in this fight in large part to defend the honor of Amazon, who she credits for inspiring her to get in the ring in the first place. Sasha promises that she has this as she moves onward to the match preceding a brief video package about the Sasha versus Alexa showdown.
Now it is time for the Street Fight between Alexa and Sasha!! These young women go right after each other as soon as the bell rings. Sasha demonstrates early on that she will be the “Boss” of this bout and that she plans on leaving for EWA with a major win under her belt. Alexa, however, proves to be as cunning as ever as she fights back ruthlessly. When Sasha gets a significant amount of momentum, we suddenly hear the music of Slammer playing, which enables Alexa to escape the ring and grabs mic – with a hurt right leg, as Sasha had been targeting it – and she reminds Sasha of her status as the Premier Athlete and that such means she is empowered to choose one more privilege: “Boss of the Day”. Alexa then reveals that her first act with this practically unlimited power is to “temporarily suspend” the rules pertaining to intergender conflict! At this point. Slammer assaults Sasha in brutal fashion, decimating her with the Head Mashing Super Punch and assisting Alexa as she climbs the ropes and executes her patented Twisted Bliss finisher. Then, as Alexa has Slammer help her out, she taunts Sasha, telling her to go “whine to Uncle Benny and Auntie Molly” about the loss!
In the hallway, Jon Moxley is annoyed when he is suddenly confronted once again by The Guy. The Guy attempts to extend his offer of becoming “The Manager of The Mox”, but Moxley threatens his life. Guy warns that Moxley will regret this and Moxley ignores him and walks away. We then see a fight between Samoa Joe and Taz being broken up by the officials. Samoa barks some threats at Taz and Taz tells Samoa to “Survive, if you can!!”
The Men’s Immunity Championship is now on the line between the Champion Petey Williams and Jon Moxley. The heat between these two obviously extends back to the Premier Athlete Tournament Roulette, and Moxley is not over the underhanded way in which Petey won that contest. Moxley and Williams seem pretty evenly matched with few exceptions, but Moxley really started firing on all cylinders. When the time came for Moxley to get the win, though, Mike O’Malley came out of nowhere and interrupted the pinfall attempt. O’Malley then attacked Moxley and left him laying after the Best Damn Finisher. Williams picked up the win as O’Malley walked away with his new manager: The Guy!
Lance Storm is now standing by with Lawrence Mason and he seems so lost. Mason tries to get Lance to talk about the match, and Lance can’t help but reminisce about how he failed as a father and how he has to take care of this while he walks towards the entrance way. We then have a video package about the upcoming match. It appears that the plan is for every Motivation going forward to feature such a video package of the top 4 to 8 matches each year.
Our next match is immediately one of the most emotional of the night. Lance initially refuses to attack Robby, only briefly getting in a single offensive shot to shut his son up, but then Robby becomes the aggressor, and he refuses to just let Lance lose right away, at least not until he feels that he is done. Lance is beaten to a pulp, but he soon finds the fire in him to fight back. This second wind for Lance makes the fight a genuine battle between father and son until Robby shifts gears from trying to commit patricide to trying to win. Robby soon puts his father out of his misery, picking up the win, and showing no remorse as he walks out the shameful victor. Lance, on the other hand, gets a standing ovation from the crowd, who sense that this is likely the end as they chant “Thank you Lance!!”
In the locker room, the Women’s Tag Team Champions Team Laycool are getting ready for their title defense when they are approached by the Undying Legends Molly Holly and Ivory. The Legends wish the Champs good luck and suggest a title defense when the Fourth Season starts. Michelle McCool scoffs at the idea of a handout – preferring that their challengers earn their chance -, but note that there may be an exception made in this case. We then see the Allure arriving for their match, but they stumble across Madison Rayne, who is beaten and battered from last night’s brawl, complete with an arm bandage for her broken limb. Rayne notes that the Allure likely got what they wanted, even if it came at a cost. Velvet Sky and Amber Gallows express their pleasure with the results. In my opinion, Rayne looked almost like she regretted helping the heartless Allure.
Now it was time for Women’s Tag Team Championship action. As per usual, the women did a fantastic job here, especially in light of the fact that this was the only normal tag team match of the weekend (save for the Pay Per View title defense stipulation). Team Laycool really held their own here, even against the incredibly talented and relentless Allure. However, after Layla was eliminated by Velvet Sky, the writing was on the wall for the already beaten down Michelle McCool. McCool held on a little longer and did well fighting back until the standard double team effort of Sky and Gallows overwhelmed her. Allure picked up the victory, but they weren’t satisfied with a win, they kept pummeling the former champion instead. Layla came back to try and help her partner, but the Allure were too much for them. That’s when Angelina Love’s music hit! Love came down to the ring, Allure was stunned, and Love picked up Laycool to separate them from Sky and Gallows, but that was only so Love herself could abuse them herself!! Love then welcomed the Allure back into the fray as the three of them beat the ex-champs down. Proclaiming that “the Bad Bitch is Back!” Angelina Love joined forces officially with the Allure. The transformation was complete!
Drakus is then seen entering his locker room, which is dark for obvious reasons. Bray taunts him and Drakus demands an end to this. Bray promises that he will bury the last remnant of the “apparatus of darkness” and save his fireflies with the light. As he says this a blinding light shines into Drakus’s eyes, taking him back as Bray sadistically laughs and promises to see Drakus soon.
Teo then arrives on the scene as Senior Official Earl Hebner attempts to escort him. Teo backs away, saying that he doesn’t trust anyone’s intentions right now and that he can only rely on himself.
The next match is the Submission Match! Taz and Samoa Joe come out ready to do battle, and while the match starts off slow it soon gets exceptionally brutal. Both men set out to not only tap out there opponent but to also incapacitate them! Taz and Samoa Joe exhibit the relentless will to win which made them so appealing in the first place and also which made their personalities so similar. Samoa Joe eventually does the unthinkable and brings about what Triple H must have considered to be poetic justice when he locked in the Coquina Clutch with barbwire wrapped around Taz’s neck! Taz succumbs and taps out before he loses too much blood!!
Alexa Bliss catches up with Victoria in the back. Alexa is more than proud of herself for what she has done tonight and she makes it a point to remind Victoria – who is preparing for her Championship opportunity – that she better respect the “Goddess” before Alexa encourages Slammer to have a little more fun tonight! We then see the creepy image of the Wyatt Family (absent FRED) on their knees at the Family Table as Bray cackles in the background. Wyatt promises again that the torment of darkness will soon be over…and that Drakus should have RUN!
It is now time for the Buried Alive Match!! Drakus enters the dark scenery at some undisclosed location outside…seemingly a graveyard. Bray arrives on the scene and welcomes Drakus. Drakus is uncharacteristically freaked out as the bright lights come on and the fight breaks out! Drakus quickly gets the upperhand – just as Kane had at Fate’s Resurrection – and he demands to be left alone. When Bray refuses to relent, Drakus grabs a shovel to silence him. Bray taunts him about the bygone days of the Hell’s Disciples and the Apocalyptic Corporation. Drakus responds that there was more to his career than that, but Bray isn’t letting up. Drakus beats him down further with the shovel and Bray begs him not to proceed. Drakus is determined as he grabs the shovel and starts digging to bury Bray, but out of the grave comes KEEPER!! Drakus’s iconic mentor drags him into the grave and holds him there as Bray comes to with ease and buries both of them alive!
Lawrence Mason is now in the back ready to prep us for the Women’s Championship match when Teo comes stumbling through. Mason tries to get a word with Teo, but Teo is too paranoid to talk. He notes that he was betrayed by Mickey, who had lost faith in him for some reason, and that now he has to look after himself. We then get another video package, this time for the Women’s Championship match.
We then have the Women’s Championship match! I have to note how criminal it is that such a small percentage of the most entertaining division in the industry represents only a fraction of the card over the course of the weekend! Regardless, this match gets off to an immediate start as Victoria provides no breathing room for Living Dead Girl, attacking her the moment the lights come on! Victoria’s fight is undeniable as she certainly controlled the direction for much of this match. Living Dead Girl, even when she was dominating, was appearing to have some chinks in the proverbial armor, looking sincerely vulnerable once again, as only Victoria is able to make her appear! Even so, despite an incredible impressive showing by the insurgent challenger, Living Dead Girl avoids a defeat after numerous devastating hits render Victoria unable to fight anymore. Just amazing.
Before we can cut to the back, though, we suddenly hear Crock’s old familiar “Break Down the Walls” theme song (which he stole from someone else, but I digress). Crock comes rushing to the ring, looking like he is a rioter fleeing police brutality and insists on Lawrence Mason AGAIN joining him. Mason reluctantly obliges and heads to the ring. Mason tells Crock that he better not let the people down again. Crock then frantically starts explaining what’s going on. He reveals that his “fake investigation” turned into a real one by accident as he and his team stumbled across some very revealing information about the “truth” pertaining to the Mouse Family. He declares that everything we know about the Mouse Family “is a lie” and that such connects somehow to the “Pillars of the Locker Room”, as Mickey long referred to his locker room leaders who kept talent in line from the WPW days through to the UWA days. Crock was in the middle of revealing something connected to Nash when the lights and his mic were suddenly cut off! When the lights came back on you see that Executioner had ahold of Lawrence Mason and the Henchmen were taking Crock away!! What the hell is going on here?
With Mason out of commission we are treated to our backup interviewer: Shane McMahon (Lenny was reportedly removed from interviewing duties, because Mickey and others hate the sound of his voice). Shane approaches Attitude to get his closing thoughts prior to the long-anticipated and high-stakes Main Event. Attitude explained that he was doing this because he had to prove to himself that he was better than Teo…even if it meant risking his career; which was the only way he knew Teo would accept this challenge. He then gets up and heads for the door as we experience our final video package of the extravaganza.
Michael Buffer epically brings us this moment in the only acceptable way to introduce such a high-prestige main event on the “grandest stage of them all”, and he informs us that Chairman Murrey has decreed that their “must be a clear winner” and that no one will be allowed to interfere or otherwise inject themselves into the match!! The World Championship versus Career Match in a Best Two out of Three Falls had all the framework for an instant classic…perhaps one of the greatest battle of all time! Teo and Attitude ready to square off and the action absolutely does not disappoint. They push each other to their absolute limits in this war! The referee, Earl Hebner, recognizes the incredible stakes of the bout and lets the men slide. He even prevents himself from disqualifying Teo a few times, seeing right through the champion desperate to avoid losing the championship by exploiting the rule which prevents title changes on a disqualification. Attitude stuns everyone, Teo especially, when he manages to get the first fall after a devastating Attitude Adjustment through a table in the middle of the ring off the top rope! The war continues, though, as both men tear each other apart. More tables are utilized, Teo comes flying off the set onto Attitude, a turnbuckle is exposed, both men wind up badly lacerated and all hell seems to have broken loose as Teo picks up the second fall. The third and final fall was the hardest one to secure, though, as both men – beaten and tired from their conflict – prove to be both too determined to win as well as too hurt to immediately capitalize on ever opportunity. Sadly, however, Teo does get the win, ending Attitude’s career after nailing his own finisher on him!
This classic encounter is then topped off with Teo displaying a very rare show of respect to Attitude. Teo helps his former partner up to his feet, Attitude reaches out for a handshake, and Teo embraces him for a celebratory hug, and as the crowd chants “Thank you, Attitude!!” Teo holds his title up high and we sign off for the ni…wait a minute! Petey Williams suddenly spoils the celebration, coming down and informing Teo that he will be cashing in his Immunity Championship for a World Title shot…right now! However, before the bell even rings, Alexa Bliss comes down to the ring, exploiting her “Boss” role, and declares that this match will be a single-fall “Finisher to Finish Match” (a match last used in the UWA in the Third Era which sees the first superstar to employ their finisher as the victor). She then invites her “special enforcer” Slammer to “observe” the bout, but then she walks over to Petey’s corner, making it obvious whose side she is on. Then, as Teo’s cards are stacked against him, beaten, bruised, and bloodied, he readies for war, only for Rhyno to come running through the crowd, hitting a GORE on Slammer and then Williams!! Teo then executes the Fall From Grace, which immediately ends the match and gives him the victory!!
Now, with Teo having survived FOUR CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES IN TWO DAYS, he received Rhyno’s help escorting him out of the ring while Alexa, Slammer, and Williams watch on in dismay!
WAIT…it’s not over yet? We get Mickey singing “Ring Around the Rosies” as Crock is being held captive by the Henchman and…HOLY SHIT! Mickey really has lost his mind. Where in the world is this going?
WHAT A FUCKING PAY PER VIEW!! WHAT A SEASON!! I can’t wait for Season Four!!
Thank you for reading, everybody!
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 