Hey guys, sorry I've been gone for a bit as of late. I'm gutted I wasn't able to take advantage of the Elite Open Challenge... but alas here I am to deliver my reviews. This will be a double header, as I am reviewing TWO rounds, FOUR shows in this 1 post. I hope you all enjoy this.... here we go!
Meltdown 156
Flex America Opens the Show
It's only fitting that WZCW's newest stable start things off this round. The addition of Keith Kole to the squad last round immediately injected some intrigue into the character and stable alike. Here we have Flex waxing poetic about being the Champion the fans need while denigrating the man who will challenge for his World Title... Titus Avison. He ends this promo by revealing a confusing surprise special referee, Everest. Everest was before my time in the company... so he's been more folk lore to me than anything. It'll be interesting to see where this goes, as I've always known Everest to be a face, so Flex welcoming him as the referee leaves some questions to be answered.
Eve Taylor vs Stetson Hayes
And the slide continues for Eve Taylor. I was quite surprised with how easy it seemed for Stetson Hayes to pick up the victory here. He controlled most of the match except for a flurry Eve had towards the end starting with the baited head butt. I wonder if this match says more about the fall of Eve Taylor, or the rise of Stetson Hayes. Regardless of where Eve Taylor goes from here, this is great victory for Hayes.
Flex America Backstage
After Flex berates the food at catering, he informs Keith Kole that Wasabi Toyota will be ringside for his match against Titus later that night. Would have liked it if Keith had a line or two... but nothing out of the newest addition to the stable yet. Maybe soon...
Callie Clark & Mjolnir
The scene begins with a close up of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. Callie Clark is revealed in Thor cosplay while giving a promo exalting the power of the hammer and capping it off with "Excelsior," perhaps an homage to the late great Stan Lee who recently passed away. Having written Callie vs Kagura myself, I find this to be an excellent segment which properly sets up the importance of Mjolnir for their match later in the night. Smart thinking by Matrix here.
Kagura vs Callie Clark: Gold Rush Tournament Semi Finals
This may be the 4th time I've written a Kagura match in recent memory, and I have a lot of fun with them every time. I find her move set very flexible to work with. I enjoy the creative freedom the creative team allows me when writing a match. Often times they will just give me the winner, and whether it was a clean finish or not. This time all I was told was who would win, and that Callie was cosplaying as Thor as an homage to Stan Lee, who had passed away earlier that week. I'm not really into the Marvel movies, but even I know Thor... and wanting to make Matrix's cosplay a little more special this round, I decided to make the hammer a vital part of the match. This may be the most fun I ever had writing a match... especially playing around with Callie being the only person able to pick up Mjolnir. I don't see Callie's stock falling much at all with a loss to Kagura, and I tried my best to make it feel that way in this match with Callie never tapping out, instead having her lifeless hand fall on the hammer to end the match. I hope Matrix & Ech enjoyed this match as much as I did writing it. I have a lot of respect for both their characters, and them as RPers.
Burger King Commercial
The literal Burger King pops up to give Leon Kensworth a burger. An actual Burger King commercial plays. I agree with Cohen when he asks "Is there even a point to this?"
Matt Tastic & Mikey Stormrage... in another Burger King ad?
Tastic runs into Stormrage's locker room to tell him the Burger King is handing out burgers. Mikey is unimpressed because he already went to BK with Titus, which fills Matt with jealousy as he storms out.
Kagura & Garth Black
Kagura walks passed the Gorilla position after her victory over Callie Clark. People clap, and Everest gives her a thumbs up. Wait... hold up....
Everest!? Should there not be a camera and mic in Everest's face right now with someone asking him about being Special Guest Referee for the Main Event @ Gold Rush??? I'm not sure if this was an oversight by creative, but it seems very odd that Everest can go along his regular work day backstage with Flex Mussel dropping that shocking piece of news about him to open the show.
Anyways, as I was saying... Kagura walks backstage and is greeted by a slow clap from Garth Black. Kagura accepts Garth's handshake, albeit aggressively, while demanding he give Flex Mussel his best tonight, just like he did against her @ Kingdom Come.
Keith Kole vs Titus Avison
We immediately see some benefits of joining up with the World Champion... Keith Kole gets a shot against a marquee name in the legend, Titus Avison... except Titus doesn't come out. The God Damn Burger King comes out instead. So, I guess this is Titus dressed as The Burger King now, and he's raging against the Flex American machine by throwing Whoppers into the crowd, a food Flex certainly does not approve of. Even Wasabi Toyota engages in the gluttony.
Titus sheds the Burger King costume early on in the match. Toyota made his presence felt early on in the match, which lead to the Dusty finish in the end. As a non-creative member, I've always wondered if matches that end in a Double DQ or Double Count Out or No Contest etc. are votes that ended in a tie, or creative using their creative license to further a storyline. Perhaps it's both... who knows? I'd say Keith Kole not losing versus Titus Avison is a step up for the character.
Eve Taylor didn't tap?
We find Eve backstage claiming she never tapped. Instead, she was simply reaching for the ropes. She believes the conspiracy is continuing. I'm not sure whether she tapped or didn't, but the slide is definitely real. Stetson Hayes is nearby to rub some salt in the wound.
Garth Black vs King Mussel
No Keith Kole here. Instead, Mussel is accompanied by Wasabi Toyota as usual, and Charles. The two are kicked out of the match after helping Flex escape the Black Death. Although Mussel tapped, the ref didn't see it and the match continues. The match ends soon after this when Garth dives... over? Through? Not really sure, but either way he dives into Flex, who is holding the announcers chair in front of the the table. They crash into it. With the count nearing 10, Garth blocks an attempted Mussel Bomb on the outside by holding onto the ropes and getting flung in at the last second. Garth Black wins by count out in a relatively quick match. It's a fine way to end the match as a way to keep the champion strong, but the lack of after match shenanigans was a bit curious.
Ascension 133
Mikey Stormrage: The First Dual Champion in the History of the WZCW
Pretty impressive accolade for Mikey to boast about being both the Elite Openweight Champion & Mayhem Champion. He's a Champ-Champ. "Baby Doll" Alice Adams gets a nice spot here by appearing in the opening segment, informing Mikey that their match later in the night will be for his newly acquired Mayhem Championship. Mikey's got 2 matches ahead of him. Rough night or Stormy.
Tony Mancini is Fired
Mancini comes to the ring, but before he can say anything Maury Povich appears and tells him he's not the father. Kenneth Banks appears, says he adopted Mancini and was giving him undeserved title shots. Vance Bateman comes out... the new owner of the company? The police arrest Mancini as Bateman fires him. Tony is taken out in tears.
I tend not to take segments like this too seriously, as I assume is usually the intention while writing it. It's supposed to be fun. A rough exit for Tony Mancini. I'm always sad to see talent go... but with an exit like this, I wonder if there were some ruffled feathers on Milenko's way out. I wonder if the ownership change means changes are on the way...?
PC Stevie Broon vs Zhanshi
Zhanshi makes his debut against the PC Stevie Broon. Zhanshi starts the match off with some nunchucks but the ref stops that right away. Zhanshi no sells 3 consecutive back breakers early on in the match. It seems Zhanshi is immediately one of the stronger characters in the federation as he picks up a relatively easy win here over a tough opponent in PC Stevie Broon. It'll be interesting to see if this new character will re-motivate Jeff. If so, I suggest we all steer clear of this man like the WZCW assistants and stage hands did at the end of the match.
Matt Tastic vs Annie Halloway
Video footage from before the match shows a car door opening near Matt. Matt kicks the door in anger, crushing Annie's hand in the process. There seemed to be a disconnect between this and the match writer, because the hand is not mentioned at all throughout the actual match. In a vacuum, the match was excellent. Props to Ech on this match, I enjoyed how Annie had Tastic under control the whole match by capitalizing on his mistakes, only to have Matt Tastic grab her in frustration and suddenly finish her off like The Hulk flinging around Loki. A strong showing for Annie Halloway in defeat, and another nice win to continue Tastic's re-emergence as a legitimate threat in this company.
Annie, Are You Okay? - Matt Tastic Interview
Leon Kensworth is set to interview Annie after commercial break when Matt Tastic barges in and throws her through the interview set. He cuts a scathing promo on the company and vows not to be a punching bag anymore before turning around and tossing Halloway through the set a second time. Matt Tastic comes out looking like a new danger in WZCW while Annie is left in the rubble. I'm equally as interested in seeing where both of these characters go from here. What can Tastic accomplish with this newfound attitude? & how will Annie respond to defeat and destruction?
Vega/Xander Promos
Both characters cut quick promos before their match later in the night. Xander reiterates his point from the last show... Vega's pandering to the fans will get him nowhere.
Xander vs Vega: Gold Rush Semi-Final Match
The match starts off with both men showing off their striking prowess. Vega ends up with the upper hand, forcing Xander to the outside. Eventually, after three shots to the steel post and some undefended closed fists from the full mount position, Xander opens up a nasty wound across Vega's forehead. Amazing back and forth ensues with pinning combinations and high spots, all ending with Vega blocking Xander's slap, landing a slap of his own and giving Xander the finger. I love when writers get creative with Vega's tightrope walking ability, and Jeff certainly had fun with it here, having Vega matrix to avoid an attack and then tightrope and front flip to avoid another, leading right into a leg sweep and moon knee to Xander's head. After a lucha styled rally, Xander rakes the cut to regain advantage. Xander removes the turnbuckle pad, and after another back and forth, he ends up countering Vega with a DDT into the exposed turnbuckle, and following it up with a piledriver on the top rope into the exposed turnbuckle once again. A gruesome way to finish the match. Xander stands on Vega's chest with his foot for the 3 count.
An excellent match by Jeff. Vega looked very strong throughout most of the match while Xander seemed to have his hands full. Ultimately it was Xander's ruthlessness early on and towards the end that got him the tough earned victory. The foot on the chest pin definitely hurt my ego, but I <3 BK and loved every moment writing against him. I hope to face him again in the future.
Zhanshi... dubbed over?
Stacey Madison is backstage to interview Zhanshi. Although it appears he answers her questions in a polite and mild mannered tone, a loud over dub can be heard yelling warnings of wrath and fury to come. Both Zhanshi and Stacey looked confused. Interesting caveat to the Zhanshi character.
Mikey Stormrage vs "Baby Doll" Alice Adams: Mayhem Championship Match
Things start off with a nice juxtaposition in size, Alice trying to do what most undersized wrestlers would do against a large man like Mikey. Mikey is easily able to use his size advantage to start off with an early advantage. After a quick offensive onslaught including blasting Stormrage in the knee with a chair, Mikey regains control with a Game Over. Adams, however, kicks out. Then he hits the Live Mas slam... and again, Baby Doll kicks out. Whoa. Alice eventually has a final flurry after escaping a bear hug with Vampire tactics and using the chair on the knee again. Stormrage kicks out of the Private Show DDT. Stormrage eventually counters Baby Doll in mid air with a falling uranage. After a couple of last ditch effort forearms, Alice Adams falls victim to another Game Over. Mikey defends the Mayhem Title.
What a match. Ech did a lot for the new female characters in one show, putting both Annie Halloway & "Baby Doll" Alice Adams over huge in their matches. Alice Adams had perhaps the performance of her young career here in the Main Event of Ascension vs Mikey Stormrage. Kudos not only to Ech for writing a terrific match, but to Yaz & Sawa for a great showing this week
Meltdown 157
Merry Flexxxmas
King Mussel and Keith Kole enter the ring with ugly sweaters. Kole is carrying a Christmas tree. They introduce Santa Wasabi, who comes down to the ring dressed as Santa Clause. Santa Wasabi gifts Keith Kole a replica Mayhem Title (he challenges for the title @ Ascension) and Flex a Titus action figure, along with a hammer to destroy it. Suddenly they are interrupted by a returning Krypto wearing a Santa costume. Kole finally speaks.. by making an illegal alien joke. Krypto is quickly disposed of by FlexAmerica, who are then greeted by new boss Vance Bateman. Flex and Vance rehash their history before bringing up Everest. Vance questions why Everest hasn't responded to Flex yet... (but apparently works right at Gorilla!?) ... leaving Flex a bit concerned before Krypto makes a comeback and takes out all of Flex America. Very curious to have an opening segment that gets the champion's old character over. I'll hold my judgement and see where this goes.
PC Broon vs "Baby Doll" Alice Adams
After hugging the rope to start the match, Alice gains a quick victory with a school girl after a low blow the referee didn't see. A big, yet dastardly win for Alice Adams after a stellar performance a round ago vs Mikey Stormrage. "Baby Doll" is trending upwards going into Goldrush while PC's skid continues. Uncharacteristic no show aside, props to Sawa for her continued improvement with the character.
Matt Tastic takes it Despacito
Tastic appears on screen as the last match comes to an end. He goes on a rant about the commentary being slanted against him. Alice's cheating seems to be much more accepted by the company than his tactics against Annie Halloway last week. He advises PC to step things up & do whatever it takes, and warns the fans that they will hate him by the end of the night... which is fine by him, because he takes things slowly... or, as he put it in Spanish... "despacito." Can't help but think of the song, which is a weird way to end a menacing promo, but whatevs.
Sweet Baby Jesus - Brought to you by Powerade.
The silliness is bountiful in this next segment where we find Stetson Hayes leading a pre-meal prayer with a motley crew of characters backstage, including Theron Daggershield, Backstage Bob, Tony Mancini's Priest, the Ghost of Tony Mancini's Catholic Mother, and Becky Serra. Most seem to take issue with Stetson's desire to pray to a baby Jesus, as opposed to an adult Jesus. Sprinkle in a quick mention of Garth Black, top it off with a Powerade endorsement, and there ya go.
Alrighty then...
Eve Taylor vs Vega vs Callie Clark
Eve & Callie quickly take out Vega to start things off. They're out for blood with each other, and it's obvious. Vega reinserts himself into the match, only to get distracted by the cheering of the fans. It leads to a vicious steel chair attack from Eve Taylor. Vega's head has taken a beating the last two rounds, huh? Eve and Callie go at it again. Vega is kept on the outside by Eve who continues to rage against Callie. After a while, Vega returns to the action once again, tightrope walking back towards them and landing a flying forearm on Eve. Again, love the creativity with Vega's tightrope abilities. For a moment, Vega controls the match... nearly hitting his finisher until the women take over again, and Vega is on the outside. See a trend here? At some point Vega kicks out of the Spiral Tap, only to hit a Killshot on her right after. Eve follows it up with Fashion Statement... none of this leads to a finish... After a Killshot on Eve... Callie flurries late and ends up nailing the Calliesault on Vega for the pin, as Eve watches from the outside.
I must say this was a much better match than I deserved to have... I felt I didn't put up a great effort that round RP wise, with the deadline stupidly surprising me in the end. I thought the story of this match was stellar... essentially Vega kept getting in the way of this feud between Callie and Eve.. and now that Callie's cleared Vega out of the way, it's Eve vs Callie. Great job by Ech here in match writing, strong showing by Falk & congrats to Matrix on a big win after a stellar performance in defeat last round.
Callie Clark vs Eve Taylor @ Gold Rush =
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Kagura & Garth Black vs Xander & Stetson Hayes
Big tag match right here... Garth & Xander start it off. Man what a singles match that'd be... huh? We get a nice teaser version of what that would be here for a bit before Hayes gets involved. Hayes and Black... that's another damn good match I wanna see. Damn. What a tag match. Anyways, Stetson and Xander are great opponents for Garth to have at a time like this. Many people may find his new attitude hard to accept... but Kagura reluctantly, and aggressively shook his hand last round... and now he goes against two of the worst heels in the company. Who better to make Hayes look like good? Juxtaposing Vega against Xander last round certainly helped him get over with the fans more, as was apparent the crowd.
Eventually Kagura gets in there to help Garth, and ends up entangled with Stetson Hayes. The two have an interesting showdown which makes me hope they meet again in the future as well. A lot of fun and new match ups here. The match ends with Hayes walking away from Xander, who gets pinned by his Gold Rush Tournament Finals opponent, Kagura. Nice finish to set up the PPV without hurting Xander's character or recent rise at all. Great job as always, Jeff.
King Mussell vs Matt Tastic
Not sure if it's just me, but this match had 2 different fonts. Weird. Anyways, I rather enjoyed this quick match after the last two epics. It was a fun way to show Tastic's newly reborn aggressive side while picking up a huuuge win. The finish, Matt Tastic being swung around 38 times before reaching up and rolling Flex into a dizzied small package was wonderful. The match and finish leaves a lot of room for the next time these two meet. Nicely done, Yaz.
Ascension 134
Titus Avison will never forget the name of... Annie Halloway.
Titus starts things off with a standard Titus promo cutting down Flex, when Annie Halloway, of all people, interrupts. She challenges Titus to a match, and informs him that he basically has no choice because Chuck Myles already sanctioned it... so here we go!
Titus vs Annie Halloway
And after a rather quick back and forth, Annie transitions her Hallowed Road submission into a pinning predicament for the quick upset victory! It seems Lee was sick with the flu this round... regardless, after a great showing in a losing effort against Matt Tastic, Annie responds from the post match backstage beat down and shows the world she is indeed okay by challenging and defeating Titus in the opening segment of Ascension. Incredible. Neither Flex nor Titus are exactly steamrolling into their title match at Gold Rush... are they? Interesting build.
Keith Kole Aint Scared
Backstage Flex motivates Keith Kole for his Mayhem Match against Mikey Stormrage later in the night. Flex makes a wall joke... then a shut down joke.
Annie Halloway Promo
Pumped about her win, Annie unsuccessfully clamors to be in the main event of Gold Rush. Either way, she's determined to make a name for herself in the near future. Cool.
Dirk Buchanan vs Zhanshi
Dirk debuts with a super quick win over Zhanshi after another dubbed promo. Zhanshi's strong debut is quickly undone by a strong debut by Dirk Buchanan. Can't wait to see what this Dirk guy can do. Welcome to the fed, Atilla the Fun.
Keith Kole vs Mikey Stormrage: Mayhem Championship Match
Keith Kole was made to look pretty strong early on in this match, holding his own against the champion. Eventually, Wasabi Toyota made his presence felt with the steel chair. Regardless of the 2 on 1, Keith Kole actually kicked out of a lot of powerful offense from Mikey. With the string of upsets, a loss to Kole before Gold Rush wouldn't have been unfathomable. Eventually, Stormrage gets the Random Access Mutilation locked in and forces Keith Kole to tap. This was probably Kole's greatest performance to date, but Stormrage continues to, uh... rage on. Sneaky good match by Matrix.
Elite Openweight Open Challenge
Stormrage cuts a promo about feeling great and announces an Open Challenge for the Elite Title at Gold Rush. Matt Tastic interrupts and levels Mikey with the mic before beating him up and announcing that he will be challenging Stormrage for the Mayhem Title that same night. Matt Tastic delivers on his earlier promise. The fans hate him more.
The Contract Signing: Flexxmas is Ruined, a Merry Christmas to All
Both GMs, journalists, and Everest are present for the contract signing between Flex and Titus. Pretty cool stuff, definitely feels big. Keith Kole and Santa Wasabi are there, too. Of course, things don't go smoothly, and eventually punches are thrown. During the melee, Titus takes out Toyota and Kole before Flex attacks him, causing Titus to force Everest out of the ring and to the outside. The brawl leads to the backstage area, where eventually Titus gains the upper hand with the help of a Christmas tree, and an ornament. Towards the end, Everest returns to tackle Titue to the ground. As security drags Titus away, he laughs while wishing a Merry Christmas to All.
Final Thoughts: Man, a loaded 2 rounds. I'm very upset I wasn't able to participate in Gold Rush, but things happen. Either way, these 4 shows really built a lot of great matches for the event. The tournament finals leading to Kagura and Xander is sure to be off the charts. Can Xander finally reach the pinnacle he claims has evaded him his whole career...? Or will Kagura be 1 step closer to regaining what was briefly hers... the World Title?
Eve Taylor vs Callie Clark is gold, especially knowing now that it will be Falk's final match in the fed. What an honor for Matrix, and what a coup it could be for the Callie Clark character. Can Callie end Eve Taylor's career, or will Eve leave with one final victory?
Matt Tastic has responded from a down cycle by perhaps having the strongest cycle of all this time around. Can he continue the rise by taking the Mayhem Title away from Stormrage? Mikey Stormrage may be the only person with a better cycle than Tatt right now. Super intriguing match.
Speaking of Stormrage and intriguing... who's gonna step up and challenge him for the Elite Title???
Stetson Hayes vs Garth Black... that match was wonderfully teased in the tag match in the past round and should be a "barn burner."
This felt like a very strong cycle for WZCW as a whole. Some new faces have had some interesting debuts, and we saw the rise of young stars like Alice Adams and Annie Halloway take place while some vets like Matt and Mikey re-established themselves as stars. The final episode of Ascension came of best for me... I often enjoy when the ending of the show has a bit more going on to it. Most of the shows the past couple of rounds end rather abruptly after the final match ends. It doesn't have to always be as grand a spectacle as this last Christmas brawl was, but perhaps more post match involvement to progress a storyline would make the endings of more shows feel as strong as successful as that last one. That is perhaps my one critique for an otherwise amazing performance by creative this past cycle. I look forward to see the results of Gold Rush, and plan to coninue reviewing every show.... hopefully in a more timely fashion.
I hope you guys enjoyed these reviews as much as I do writing them. I truly appreciate the process of getting to comment while these character grow and change round by round. Continue the great work creative and RPers alike.
Falk... God Speed, brother. You're a fucking legend.