The official wrestling sim topic

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Conspiracy Victim Vito The writers handling the Hotbody/Demiras/Benton angle need a huge raise. Benton stringing him along with innuendo is priceless

Were this the WWE, Vince would've given himself an aneurism raging over the number of the times the word 'hospital' was uttered followed with Hotbody jobbing to everyone under the sun including a rehired Marty Jannety. The Cruiserweight Title is eventually forgotten and no more angles are done where someone might need medical attention in fear of the dreaded 'h' word being dropped by a careless slip.

[Evil Vito]

With his charisma I think he'd settle in well as an announcer which, coincidentally, is what AEW is doing with him in real life. Not sure if non-wrestlers can hold second jobs as announcers like wrestlers and managers can, though.

In terms of angles I think his best value would be to help put over some of the company's big guys, but online people are split on whether it's a good idea or not.

People forget there's a big difference between WWE big and everywhere else big. When Drew McIntyre got released and went to the indies at 6'5", 265 lbs he looked so much bigger than most of the people he wrestled. He goes back to WWE and now looks par for the course.

Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose is 6'2" which was not anything special in WWE land despite being big by normal life standards. FTR/The Revival are 5'10", 225 lbs each and didn't look remotely big in WWE, in fact some people on this board called them vanilla midgets. In AEW? They seem like a couple of thick dudes and heavy hitters.

In EWR land, Wardlow would absolutely get over by beating down Wight just on the overness discrepancy alone. But in real life? Wardlow is a company "big guy" at 6'3" and built like a brick shithouse...does standing him toe to toe with thew 7' giant in Wight kill his image?

As someone who doesn't care about height, Wardlow press slamming Wight would make me mark out and make me think it helps legitimize him. But for the many people on this board who get hung up on size and think the lack of focus on size outside of WWE makes everything else seem minor league, they'd think it would just bury Wight and make it all look like a farce. It's all a matter of perspective.

[Evil Vito]

Behind the velvet rope EWR pick...here's what happens in-game when the leader gets booted from a stable

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Conspiracy Victim Vito Behind the velvet rope EWR pick...here's what happens in-game when the leader gets booted from a stable

Go home, game, you're drunk.

[Evil Vito]

It's one of those things where he's over and popular enough to turn face from it even though, character-wise, he's been a heel for AEW's entire 2 year run so far so he probably deserved it. But really even though I booked it as a face turn in-game, I imagine in reality the full fledged face turn would be when he eventually returns. His in-ring career is winding down and I imagine he's got one face run left in him especially given the verbal battles he can have with MJF.

I've said this but my EWR 4.2 legal cheat is to turn people into managers when I want to give them a break from TV, this prevents their morale from being destroyed - especially the main eventers. Allows me to safely have Jericho sell the betrayal for a month or two before I bring him back for the feud.

[Evil Vito]

Oh shit, I finished writing up my last show at like 12:30 in the morning I didn't even realize it was the end of the month. End of March notes:

The following birthdays occured this month: Sting (62), Christopher Daniels (51), Jake Hager (39), Matt Sydal (38), Luchasaurus (34), Matt Jackson (34), Alex Reynolds (33), Trent? (32), Maxwell Jacob Friedman (24)

-Sting has announced that he will retire at the end of the month. So much for leveraging his 100 overness to help get some segments over

-Christopher Daniels has decided to become a non-wrestler! Well, at least I gave him a nice couple of weeks and I can give SCU their #1 contender shot at the next PPV since his in ring stats are good. Of more import, he has 86 charisma which would make him a usable non-wrestler, which is good because he has an unsackable deal, which is a neat little attention to detail in my game files since in real life he has an office job as the head of talent relations

-Wardlow is the only wrestler with 3 months left on his deal, I grant him an extension

-Of my 37 workers in developmental, Yuka Sakazaki and Colten Gunn are the only ones who feel ready for a call-up. Sakazaki's stats should be usable, I had just sent her down so as to not overcrowd my division. Colten on the other hand, who just started wrestling last November in real life....uhhh, best stat is a 54 brawl. Looks like I'll have to give him the boot even though it'll piss off Billy and Austin Gunn.

-Jake Roberts has returned from injury.

-Serena Deeb returns from a 2 week suspension I gave her for shooting on her colleagues in a podcast.

-Danny Davis who I'd signed on as an extra trainer at the start of the game has already retired.

-WWE loses a top staff member with noted racist Michael Hayes retiring out of the blue.

-People around the wrestling world retiring at the end of April: Awesome Andy, Donovan, Masakatsu Funaki, Megumi Yabushita, Rick Steiner, Masao Inoue, Super Porky, and The Warlord

Wrestling Observer: Karl Anderson returned on last night's Dynamite after not appearing since the previous month's Revolution PPV. Of note was that Anderson returned alone and not with his longtime tag team partner Doc Gallows.

The Good Brothers first became a team in 2013 in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where they were three time IWGP Tag Team champions. They left for WWE in 2016 and held the Raw Tag Team Titles twice in their four year stint. After being released amid WWE's coronavirus cutbacks in spring 2020, they signed with Impact Wrestling and quickly won their Tag Titles as well. Up until last month, the pair was working with Impact, NJPW, and AEW.

Circumstances changed two weeks ago as Doc Gallows decided to surprise everybody by moving to Mexico and signing a written contract with CMLL, abruptly ending his partnership with Anderson in the process.

Generally considered to be the better in-ring performer of the two, Anderson is still working for three companies at the moment and following his return to AEW television, it remains to be seen if the company will consider signing him to an exclusive contract.

[M-A-G]

You had to have expected that Sting retirement sooner rather than later. Hope you've got some way to use him as sort of a send off. Ditto for Daniels. This could be a way to send Kazarian off on a meaningful singles run.

I'd shoot all over Serena Deeb.

Now how can Michael Hayes be racist when he makes a better black man than Mark Henry?

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G You had to have expected that Sting retirement sooner rather than later. Hope you've got some way to use him as sort of a send off. Ditto for Daniels. This could be a way to send Kazarian off on a meaningful singles run.

I know that the game's algorithm makes it so that the bulk of the retirements or conversions to non-wrestlers happens on the month of their birthday. I was already prepared for Daniels to become a non-wrestler, and I fully expect it to happen to Jericho in November. I have a couple of other dudes in their 50s (Luther and Billy) but they're Dark fodder so that'll be no loss if/when they retire this year.

But manager/non-wrestler retirements are a bit more of a crapshoot since they could feasibly stick around forever. I'm not surprised by Sting's retirement BUT I was hoping the game would give me another year or two with him, would've probably made him my on-screen authority figure for guaranteed ratings boosts.

Based on this news I think I've got an idea of how to see him out. I might give him one last match at the PPV....it won't be good for the snowflakes but it'd be a 100% overness guy vs. a mid-90s overness guy so it should be a big win for a segment.

[M-A-G]

SmackDown!: June 15, 2040

Opening Match: Jordan Demiras vs. Joey Osbourne
Before the match, Demiras wants to talk about his title match at Night of Champions. Hotbody isn't here tonight as he's off trying to find every and any legal avenue that can get him out of the predicament he's in. Demiras thinks that we all might have gotten a bit off track these last few weeks. You see, it's not about dance parties, stipulation matches, affairs, press conferences, or any other nonsense. It's about who is the best in the cruiserweight division and it sure as hell isn't some punk who has a 24/7 pity party when things don't go his way. Demiras is taking back the Cruiserweight Title one way or another at Night of Champions not because he's standing up for some woman's honor or because he's pissed off enough. He's taking it back because he is simply better than Michael Hotbody.

Well with that out of the way the match proceeds as scheduled. Demiras is all business here as the match is geared towards putting him over. He picks up the win after a top rope Axe Kick. ****1/4, 90 overall.

Backstage it looks like Jenna Kyle is here ready to give an interview but she's cut off by Nathan Quinn who approaches her. Nathan saw what went down on Raw and was incredibly impressed by what Jenna did in putting on quite the effort in the Iron Woman match. It was a shame to see her lose, however, but there is opportunity in failure. Quinn is approaching Jenna as a fellow countryman, even though Jenna doesn't proclaim to hail from down under these days. The two of them can be quite a force! Just look at Lonny Richards and Leah who are under Quinn's watch. Jenna expresses her extreme disinterest and warns Quinn to keep his charges away from her as she won't repeat herself.

In another location backstage, we do get an interview proper, this time with the challenger to the Intercontinental Title at Night of Champion, Kyle Jacobs. He talks about how he had made it clear that his sole interest in his showdown with Brandon Reigns was the Intercontinental Title but Reigns just had to go and bring family into it. Kyle isn't ashamed of where he came from any more than Reigns doesn't feel any shame for what he did to Jake Connelly. Reigns can try to play this card as often as he wants but Jacobs is focused like he's never been focused before. He will not be derailed from his quest to get back the title.

Second Match: Ozzy Mandias and Martyn LaSalle vs. Romeo Valiente and Jason Sorola
Back-to-back cruiserweight action? What sorcery is this??? Anywho, it's a hell of a display that unfortunately ends when Valiente beats Ozzy back into the ring for a cheap count out win. The dance continues. ****1/2, 93% overall.

It's super special in-ring interview time as Faith Connors makes her way out just days removed from her victory on Raw in the Iron Woman Match. Faith isn't sure where she and Jenna go from here but she's confident that it won't be as enemies. She's been hearing the buzz that what went down on Raw quite possibly puts her in the front of the line after Night of Champions as far as getting a Women's Title opportunity goes. That's certainly all well and good but there's been a certain somebody who apparently sees Faith as an itch that needs scratching.

Cue Hannah McCormick who comes out looking disgusted. She's impressed by what she saw on Raw but she doesn't see it as some sort of starting point for either Faith or Jenna. It was a swan song; one last big hurrah to satisfy the chumps in the audience who drool all over them. Hannah is tired of both of them and wants to begin the important process of knocking them down a peg, starting with Faith. She issues a challenge for this Monday night on Raw and Faith is more than happy to accept.

Backstage, Noah Carmichael runs into Haven. Noah lets Haven know that he's not happy about the situation at Night of Champions anymore than Haven is. The ending of Backlash has been a constant nagging sensation in the back of Noah's mind and it's driving him crazy. Haven counters that he'll be more than happy to destroy Fleming and McDaniels so that Carmichael can take a stab at alleviating his ailment...or more accurately, Haven will alleviate it for him and leave the new Unified World Champion.

Third Match: Orlando Kincaid vs. Jesse Capalbo
Just a match to give a rub to Kincaid. He cheats his way to victory here with a steel chain wrapped around his fist. ****1/2, 90% overall.

Fourth Match: WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming and Quentin McDaniels vs. The Tokyo Titans
Fleming lets McDaniels know that this match should be a warm up for Night of Champions when they're on the same page and take Carmichael and Haven out of the picture. This is actually more even than it should be all things considered but eventually Fleming tags himself in and dumps McDaniels so he can hit the Slaughterhouse Special on Wu and take the win himself. ****1/2, 93% overall.

More in-ring super special time, this time it's with the Women's Champion Sonya Braddock. She wants to talk about all of the mudslinging going on in the women's division right now, with everyone jockeying for a position in the spotlight. That spotlight really only means that you're set to be the next victim of Braddock. All the women who have made it a point to ask for attention and glory had better pay close attention to what goes down at Night of Champions and then take a moment to reflect on what they really find important in their lives. Naomi Bailey can call herself Queen until frogs do fractions. She had better have something more than that once that bells rings.

Sadly, Naomi has been making her way into the ring behind Braddock during her promo and attacks her. It's more than just one simple move this time around and she uses the Women's Title belt to knock down the champion and offers some trash talk for good measure.

Fifth Match: Kerry Cemenko vs. Hugo
Fuck it, why not? Xavier Cross is at ringside relishing in watching Hugo just manhandle his nemesis. Cemenko is not so easily dismantled, however, and musters up enough of a comeback to goad Cross into running in to attack him for the DQ. Cross offers up some more punishment after the bell. ****1/2 , 85% overall.

MAIN EVENT: The Hunters (Ryan Pattillo, Gavin Jones, and The Play Pals) vs. Salvatore Scabbia and the Academy
The Play Pals' opponents, the Unified Tag Team Champions watch from the stage as the match unfolds. It's six-man main event goodness at its most goodiness. The end comes when Rick Hilton runs down to mess with Michael Haywood and Scabbia capitalizes on the distraction to lock in the Omerta for the submission win. ****1/2, 90% overall.

Overall show rating: 87%

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G Backstage it looks like Jenna Kyle is here ready to give an interview but she's cut off by Nathan Quinn who approaches her. Nathan saw what went down on Raw and was incredibly impressed by what Jenna did in putting on quite the effort in the Iron Woman match. It was a shame to see her lose, however, but there is opportunity in failure. Quinn is approaching Jenna as a fellow countryman, even though Jenna doesn't proclaim to hail from down under these days. The two of them can be quite a force! Just look at Lonny Richards and Leah who are under Quinn's watch. Jenna expresses her extreme disinterest and warns Quinn to keep his charges away from her as she won't repeat herself.

At least he shot his shot instead of sliding into her DMs.

Second Match: Ozzy Mandias and Martyn LaSalle vs. Romeo Valiente and Jason Sorola Back-to-back cruiserweight action? What sorcery is this??? Anywho, it's a hell of a display that unfortunately ends when Valiente beats Ozzy back into the ring for a cheap count out win. The dance continues. ****1/2, 93% overall.

I think back to 2003/2004 when SmackDown had a fairly loaded cruiserweight division and they were often relegated to Velocity, sigh.

Cue Hannah McCormick who comes out looking disgusted. She's impressed by what she saw on Raw but she doesn't see it as some sort of starting point for either Faith or Jenna. It was a swan song; one last big hurrah to satisfy the chumps in the audience who drool all over them.

Yes they certainly did

Fourth Match: WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming and Quentin McDaniels vs. The Tokyo Titans Fleming lets McDaniels know that this match should be a warm up for Night of Champions when they're on the same page and take Carmichael and Haven out of the picture. This is actually more even than it should be all things considered but eventually Fleming tags himself in and dumps McDaniels so he can hit the Slaughterhouse Special on Wu and take the win himself. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Heel stealing the pin is one of my favorite tropes. As is the heels working together in a fatal four way only for the partnership to inevitably dissolve.

MAIN EVENT: The Hunters (Ryan Pattillo, Gavin Jones, and The Play Pals) vs. Salvatore Scabbia and the Academy The Play Pals' opponents, the Unified Tag Team Champions watch from the stage as the match unfolds. It's six-man main event goodness at its most goodiness. The end comes when Rick Hilton runs down to mess with Michael Haywood and Scabbia capitalizes on the distraction to lock in the Omerta for the submission win. ****1/2, 90% overall.

Achievement unlocked: Screwjob

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Conspiracy Victim Vito At least he shot his shot instead of sliding into her DMs. I think back to 2003/2004 when SmackDown had a fairly loaded cruiserweight division and they were often relegated to Velocity, sigh. Yes they certainly did Heel stealing the pin is one of my favorite tropes. As is the heels working together in a fatal four way only for the partnership to inevitably dissolve. Achievement unlocked: Screwjob

I'd take a shot at the real Jenna, if only to get all giddy over her accent.

Ugh, don't remind me of that time period of burial. The writers could bend over backwards to find shit for the Diva Search rejects but fucking Paul London sits on his ass looking for a PPV payday.

Word has it that the arena cleanup crew made a killing in overtime after the Iron Woman match.

[M-A-G]

Raw: June 18, 2040

It's the final Raw before Night of Champions! Let's get to it!

Opening Match: Lonny Richards and Leah vs. Caleb Greene and Jamie Roderick
The clients of Nathan Quinn are quite full of themselves here. Leah in particular is making some major strides in getting over. Sadly, Nathan Quinn can't leave well enough alone and helps Richards in scoring the cheap pin after some interference. ****1/2, 91% overall.

In-ring super special talky time with Jason Sorola. He feels like he's been getting overlooked lately and being stuck in the mire with Martyn LaSalle hasn't been helping. Sorola accuses LaSalle of using him to regain his relevance here in the WWE but Sorola isn't having it. Naturally this brings LaSalle himself to contest the issue. LaSalle doesn't want to make anyone feel like they're being held back on his account. Anyone who feels that way is more than welcome to try to take their shot. In fact, that gives LaSalle an idea: why not he and Sorola go one-on-one at Night of Champions? Sorola seems open to the idea. This all attracts the attention of Lisa Benton who appears on the big screen and offers to raise the stakes. She'll not only sanction the match but she'll make it so that the winner receives a match for the WWE Cruiserweight Title!

Second Match: Naomi Bailey vs. Tania
Damn, these two mesh really well. Naomi makes no apologies for what she did to Sonya Braddock on SmackDown! because the champion had it coming with her flapping gums and complete disrespect for the Queen of Queens. Tania shows no fear here and keeps up with Her Majesty. Billie Padgett just can't leave well enough alone, though, and offers a helping hand in the form of a chair to Tania's back allowing Naomi to score a roll-up win. EVERYONE SLOW THEIR ROLE!!! Sonya Braddock is here and looks like she's ready to rip somebody's arms off. Nobody seems willing to test that hypothesis and the ring clears as Braddock stands tall. *****, 94% overall.

Backstage, Kerry Cemenko takes some shots at Xavier Cross ahead of their match to determine who will be next to receive a shot at the Unified World Title. Cemenko admits to being a tad envious of Cross and the lengthy reign he had in addition to headlining WrestleMania. It all makes Cemenko wonder why Cross has to go to such lengths such as beating him down like on SmackDown!? It can't be because he's afraid of being overshadowed, right?

Elsewhere backstage, Faith Connors is warming up in her usual way for her match tonight against Hannah McCormick. Nathan Quinn slides into the picture to try get her attention but in a funny bit she simply performs her parkour stunts around him essentially blowing him off. He yells at her that he simply wants to ask a question which finally gets her to stop and offer her ear. Nathan wants to know if Faith can talk some sense into Jenna Kyle and hopefully get her to reconsider joining his elite club as a client. Faith tells him that she hasn't heard from Jenna since their match last week and isn't sure on what terms the two of them are on. Quinn is barking up the wrong tree. Even if she was on good terms with Jenna, Faith would simply tell her that she made a wise choice staying away from someone like Quinn. Quinn counters that perhaps Faith herself should be a bit more open to Quinn's services, like Leah, for instance. Faith simply tells him that all she needs to know about his clients is that they associate with a sorry sack of crap like Quinn. She demands that he get the hell away from her.

Third Match: The Hunters vs. Salvatore Scabbia and The WWE Unified Tag Team Champions The Future Foundation
More 6-man goodness but with everyone's rivals proper. The faces look to BUILD MOMENTUM here going into Night of Champions. The end comes when Vivian Merrick's feminine wiles backfire on her when she tries them out on Ryan Pattillo and that allows him to hit Julian Merrick with the Shutdown for the win. Afterward, Scabbia locks in the Omerta on Pattillo and refuses to let go as things break down into chaos. ****1/2, 92% overall.

Fourth Match: Faith Connors vs. Hannah McCormick
I love both these women. I really think I've been giving Hannah the shaft but she's a trooper, though. Their quality is on full display here and looks like Connors has this in the bag but Leah runs down to trip her up for the DQ. The heels do the double team as the crowd looks to the entrance ramp for some assistance for Faith, chanting for Jenna Kyle but to no avail. *****, 96% overall.

It's Hot Button time with everyone's favorite host the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Former Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody! He apologizes for not being on SmackDown! but he's been meeting with his lawyers AROUND THE CLOCK looking to make the cage match between he and Jordan Demiras null and void! As much as Hotbody pays his lawyers, he expected results and he expected them days ago! Sadly, Hotbody is surrounded by morons! He's not giving up though because he has one last card to play and it's one that he had hoped to not use but there aren't that many options left. Appealing to Demiras is a waste of time because he's so full of nonsense self-righteous indignation that he won't listen to reason. So with that said, Hotbody is asking Lisa Benton to come out right now and hear him out and she had better not think about casting him aside because he'll sit in the middle of the ring and hold up the show!

Lisa Benton eventually comes out, not in the mood to put up with anymore of Hotbody's nonsense. She lets him know that everything is already official. The ink is dry, the tickets have been sold, and the cage is on its way. There's no getting out of it unless Hotbody wants to surrender the belt so he needs to quit wasting everyone's time. Hotbody is undeterred because he really, really, really, REALLY doesn't want to go through with it. Benton needs to consider the harm that might come to Demiras being trapping inside a cage with Hotbody, with nowhere to go! Loverboy will be quite useless to Benton and it will all be on her head!

"THAT'S IT! I SWEAR TO GOD ALMIGHTY IF YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD ABOUT ME AND DEMIRAS HAVING AN AFFAIR I WILL STRIP YOU OF THE TITLE AND FIRE YOU RIGHT NOW! YOU got yourself into this mess and YOU can get yourself out of it if you're the great champion you tell everyone you are! I AM SICK OF THE WHINING! You WILL go through with this match on Sunday or you can find yourself another job. END OF STORY!"

With that she slams her microphone down and looks to leave but Hotbody drops on the ground and grabs her leg refusing to let go and actually BEGS to cancel the match. It's quite the pathetic scene. Finally, Benton kicks him off and simply shakes her head. Hotbody is FURIOUS. "You know what? Forget favoritism and incompetence; the main reason you're doing all of this is because YOU'RE A VINDICTIVE BITCH!!!"

Benton walks back towards Hotbody and leans into his mic and simply says, "And don't you forget it." With that she takes her leave ignoring Hotbody's continued pleas. Finally he gives up and turns his attention to Zed Jones and puts the blame on him. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! All you had to do last week was beat Jordan Demiras! THAT'S ALL YOU HAD TO DO! YOU HAD ONE JOB!!! I'M SURROUNDED BY MORONS!" Zed gives Hotbody an annoyed look but Hotbody isn't finished. "DON'T LOOK AT ME THAT WAY! YOU SCREWED UP!!! YOU SCREWED ME!!!" Zed looks really uncomfortable and simply walks away from Hotbody leaving the champion alone and in disbelief.

Fifth Match: The Royal Effect vs. The Wasteland
How about some quality tag team action after all of that drama? This is designed for The Royal Effect's benefit as they look to bounce back into the thick of things. McKay gets the pin on Drakken after the Mass Effect. *****, 97% overall. I mean...damn,

Sixth Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns vs. Mathias
Reigns also wants to BUILD MOMENTUM going into his title defense on Sunday. He mouths off from time to time at Kyle Jacobs via the cameras. He gets a count out win here but doesn't have time to celebrate as Kyle Jacobs makes an appearance and chases him out of the ring. ****1/2, 91% overall.

MAIN EVENT: Quentin McDaniels vs. Haven
Two of the participants in Night of Champions' main event go head-to-head here. McDaniels makes it a point to call out Haven on his lack of a singles title to his name in contrast to the other competitors and continues to claim that he's not afraid of him. It's a moot point as Haven does a good job of simply pounding the shit out of McDaniels regardless. It's a nice dramatic affair that ends when Haven looks for the Sting of Solace but Butch Fleming drags him out for the DQ. McDaniels is NOT happy with this and gets in the face of the champion. They put aside their squabbling to deal with a recovering Haven but Noah Carmichael runs down to make things crazier and we have ourselves a four way brawl! *****, 94% overall.

Overall show rating: 91%

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G It's Hot Button time with everyone's favorite host the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Former Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody! He apologizes for not being on SmackDown! but he's been meeting with his lawyers AROUND THE CLOCK looking to make the cage match between he and Jordan Demiras null and void! As much as Hotbody pays his lawyers, he expected results and he expected them days ago! Sadly, Hotbody is surrounded by morons! He's not giving up though because he has one last card to play and it's one that he had hoped to not use but there aren't that many options left. Appealing to Demiras is a waste of time because he's so full of nonsense self-righteous indignation that he won't listen to reason. So with that said, Hotbody is asking Lisa Benton to come out right now and hear him out and she had better not think about casting him aside because he'll sit in the middle of the ring and hold up the show! Lisa Benton eventually comes out, not in the mood to put up with anymore of Hotbody's nonsense. She lets him know that everything is already official. The ink is dry, the tickets have been sold, and the cage is on its way. There's no getting out of it unless Hotbody wants to surrender the belt so he needs to quit wasting everyone's time. Hotbody is undeterred because he really, really, really, REALLY doesn't want to go through with it. Benton needs to consider the harm that might come to Demiras being trapping inside a cage with Hotbody, with nowhere to go! Loverboy will be quite useless to Benton and it will all be on her head! "THAT'S IT! I SWEAR TO GOD ALMIGHTY IF YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD ABOUT ME AND DEMIRAS HAVING AN AFFAIR I WILL STRIP YOU OF THE TITLE AND FIRE YOU RIGHT NOW! YOU got yourself into this mess and YOU can get yourself out of it if you're the great champion you tell everyone you are! I AM SICK OF THE WHINING! You WILL go through with this match on Sunday or you can find yourself another job. END OF STORY!" With that she slams her microphone down and looks to leave but Hotbody drops on the ground and grabs her leg refusing to let go and actually BEGS to cancel the match. It's quite the pathetic scene. Finally, Benton kicks him off and simply shakes her head. Hotbody is FURIOUS. "You know what? Forget favoritism and incompetence; the main reason you're doing all of this is because YOU'RE A VINDICTIVE BITCH!!!" Benton walks back towards Hotbody and leans into his mic and simply says, "And don't you forget it." With that she takes her leave ignoring Hotbody's continued pleas. Finally he gives up and turns his attention to Zed Jones and puts the blame on him. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! All you had to do last week was beat Jordan Demiras! THAT'S ALL YOU HAD TO DO! YOU HAD ONE JOB!!! I'M SURROUNDED BY MORONS!" Zed gives Hotbody an annoyed look but Hotbody isn't finished. "DON'T LOOK AT ME THAT WAY! YOU SCREWED UP!!! YOU SCREWED ME!!!" Zed looks really uncomfortable and simply walks away from Hotbody leaving the champion alone and in disbelief.

Hotbody definitely is the type of person to get on his hands and knees and beg like a coward. I love a heel who is so pathetic that even his right hand mand takes the abuse one time too many and is just like "fuck this shit".

I'm reminded of The Miz blaming Alex Riley for his shortcomings, firing him, Riley finally snapping and the crowd going apeshit for the whole thing. They made Riley look like a star in the making........then of course it became clear not too long after that Riley actually sucked. Great look, decent charisma, killer entrance theme - just a shame he had to wrestle.

[OssMan]

Awesome!

[M-A-G]

Superstars: June 21, 2040

Opening Match: Hugo vs. Marc Fury
THE RAMPAGE CONTINUES!!! Well, sort of as it's at least a proper match this time around. Hugo has earned enough points in overness that he can start getting wins without anybody bitching about it. With that said Fury does the job here after getting tossed around as Hugo finishes him off with the Moonsault Crush. ****1/2, 84% overall.

Second Match: The Play Pals vs. The Southern Gentlemen
More BUILDING MOMENTUM time for the Play Pals here as they have their title match against the Future Foundation in the back of their minds. This is some classic tag team stuff here as The Play Pals pick up the win after Gavin Jones pins Brody Lee. *****, 96% overall.

Backstage, Ryan Pattillo has been watching and nods his approval of his stablemates getting the win. He's approached by Brooke who assures him that she's not here for any trouble. She wants to make an offer to Pattillo in regards to Night of Champions. Salvatore Scabbia has been quite ornery since losing the Intercontinental Title and missing out on his chance to compete for it again so he's really looking for an excuse to get into a fight at the PPV. Pattillo seems OK with sticking his nose in the business of Scabbia so why not really step up? Scabbia wants a match against Pattillo at Night of Champions. Pattillo states that Scabbia should be made aware that this won't be another one of his many conquests. He's going to be in for a fight. Pattillo accepts.

Third Match: Zed Jones vs. Raymond Delaney
Jones is alone with no Michael Hotbody in sight. He does fairly well for himself regardless and eeks out a pinfall win here. Afterwards, Hotbody does indeed make an appearance, smiling and applauding Jones and encouraging the crowd to do the same. Jones doesn't know what to make of this. Hotbody climbs into the ring and celebrates and tries to raise the hand of Jones. Jones tries walking away but Hotbody insists on holding the ropes open for him. Jones simply gives Hotbody the same annoyed look he did on Raw and rolls under the ropes and goes off on his own leaving Hotbody alone with a nervous demeanor. ****1/2, 91% overall

Fourth Match: The Millennium Rebels vs. Isaac Wolff and El Silencio
Nothing major here other than hot 2 on 2 cruiserweight action. The Rebels need the rub more as they're involved in a feud so they have Aaron Ramsey use his bag of tricks to their advantage to claim a cheap victory. ****1/2, 92% overall.

Backstage Romeo Valiente is looking forward to the next time he faces Ozzy Mandias because he plans on it being the last time. He accuses Ozzy of having a stupid name and it lacks the manliness of Romeo's name. It's that machismo that puts him light years ahead of a scrub like Ozzy and why he'll be remembered as a bold piece of the puzzle while Ozzy is that piece that gets lost under the carpet.

Super Special In-Ring Talky Time with Noah Carmichael. He talks about the storied history between himself and Butch Fleming and Quentin McDaniels when they were a trio as The City Slickers. They were a force to be reckoned with no question and everyone feared them. All three were pegged to be individual superstars but unfortunately that kind of thinking doesn't sit well with certain people. Specifically people who want to use everyone else for their own purposes. That's all Noah Carmichael was to Butch Fleming and the minute there was a challenge to the status quo, like say, going along with a merger with another stable that you were just feuding with not that long before. If Fleming or McDaniels think that he's supposed to be regretting that decision to walk away from that headache they're sadly mistaken. He has 3 world titles and some WrestleMania main events that he's ready to shove up their asses. Fleming's return and McDaniels' sudden spine don't change anything. Night of Champions is where Carmichael stomps them both out and Haven had better stay out of the way.

This calls for an interruption and who better than the WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming. Fleming accuses Carmichael of simply shining once Fleming was out of the picture. Carmichael doesn't have the killer instinct that Fleming does to get the job done and that weakness is going to be what causes him to fail on Sunday. Carmichael dares Fleming to test that theory right now because he'd love to send a message to McDaniels and Haven. Fleming may talk himself up but the reality is that he scared because he knows Carmichael is better! Fleming obliges but Carmichael is quicker on the draw and knocks the champion on his ass. Fleming decides he's got better things to do and retreats up the ramp in a fury.

Fifth Match: Bonnie Beckham vs. Phoebe Hanson
I love me some of my women's wrestling. Beckham is sadly underutilized but her charisma is shoddy. That doesn't stop her from putting on a hell of a match here with Hanson. Hanson gets the pin after hitting the Stardust. *****, 94% overall.

Sixth Match: Orlando Kincaid vs. Kyle Jacobs
The Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns is at ringside watching things unfold. It's quite the show as these two mesh pretty well. Reigns runs in to attack Jacobs for the DQ when he's at his most vulnerable. Alexander Piero runs down to even things out as the heels back off. *****, 94% overall.

In-ring Talky Time with Hannah McCormick who cuts to the chase in mocking Faith Connors. Connors really knows how to make enemies. There's Hannah, herself, of course but then on Raw she had to go and get on the bad side of someone who hasn't even been here a month, Leah. And the cherry on top of it all was a complete lack of Jenna Kyle. There was a handshake and everything after that epic clash that was the Iron Woman match. Hannah suggests that Faith really doesn't have much of a role in the WWE other than rubbing people the wrong way and selling gloves to gullible little girls. Hannah is a real star and no amount of posturing from people like Faith and Jenna can change that.

Cue Faith Connors herself who gets face to face with Hannah. Faith points out that the reason she's made her fair share of enemies is because she's been knocking the egos of all the braggarts down ever since she debuted and Hannah is no different. Faith doesn't have time to consider the bruised egos who can't handle her. She does have time for another round of shutting Hannah up anytime she's feeling froggy because Faith was so rudely interrupted on Raw.

Hannah looks a tad nervous and looks like she wants to back off and leave but then goes for a sucker punch. Faith is ready for it and we have a brawl on our hands! Hannah gets the upper hand after suckering Faith into the corner and she proceeds to stomp away on her. HOLD THE PHONE! IT'S JENNA KYLE RUNNING DOWN AND ENTERING THE RING! She pulls Hannah off and gets in her face. Things are tense as the two stare each other down. Eventually, Jenna turns her attention to Faith and it looks like she's going to get a piece of her, too! Hannah is all smiles BUT WAIT! Jenna knocks her down with a clothesline and tosses her out of the ring. She goes over to help Faith up and Faith is hesitant at first but eventually she accepts Jenna's hand and the two hug it out as the crowd loses their shit. It looks like the two are back on the same page after so long!

MAIN EVENT: The Wyldhearts vs. The Agents of Change
How do you follow drama like that? With a hardcore tag team match that serves as a sort of blow off for this little mini-feud. Using the word 'little' in that regard is kind of redundant. Anyways, if you're going to end a feud, might as well go all out. The Wyldhearts are a team I want to start positioning as potential future challengers to the titles so this is all for their benefit. They manage to isolate Corey Mattis and hit him with the Heartstopper to get the win. *****, 94% overall.

Overall show rating: 91%

[M-A-G]

Ugh, Carmella running her mouth in public forcing me to suspend her for the rest of the month.

[Evil Vito]

Four 5-star matches on a Superstars. What is this life?

JENNA AND FAITH REUNITED BAH GAWD. Now I want women's tag belts even more. Hell they could probably be given their own brand.

[M-A-G]

If I did do a tag title for the ladies I think the earliest I could squeeze it in would be around SummerSlam time? King of the Ring takes up a good chunk of time because I spread the tournament out over several shows. I'd also need to come up with some clever tag team names. Faith and Jenna would be the hardest I think.

[M-A-G]

SmackDown!: June 22, 2040

It's the go home show before Night of Champions! NOBODY BETTER SCREW ANYTHING UP!

Opening Match: WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Former Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody vs. Josh Turmell
Hotbody comes out alone looking quite distressed. He talks about how unfair it's going to be thsi Sunday and that he will be at the event UNDER SEVERE PROTEST!!! The only thing more sickening than going through with it is the fact that Jordan Demiras feels that he needs to stoop to this level just to have a chance at getting back the title. What kind of a man is that? He'll show Demiras how a real man handles things. Thus the match commences and it's hot opener thanks to Hotbody's heat-drawing skills. Turmell is out here on the wrong night however as Hotbody uses his resourcefulness to set up and nail the Hot Ticket for the win.

Afterwards, Hotbody brags about maybe he has nothing to worry about after all! He doesn't need Zed Jones at his side and he doesn't need to feel guilty about anything. HE'S MICHAEL HOTBODY GOD DAMMIT AND HE LOVES HIMSELF!!! Jordan Demiras should be the one begging to call things off. In fact, if he were out here right now, Hotbody would give him a preview of things to come!

Cue Jordan Demiras himself who takes Hotbody up on that offer. Hotbody tries escaping to the sanctuary of underneath the ring but Demiras pulls him out. WHACK! Hotbody had a pipe in his hand! He proceeds to punish Demiras some more before officials come down to break things up. Hotbody looks like he's regained his confidence. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Backstage, Ryan Pattillo is being asked about his recent woes with Salvatore Scabbia. Pattillo is loyal to those he calls friends so their business is his business. He always knew at some point he would be crossing paths with Scabbia because it was only a matter of time before the path of bodies led to the upper echelons of the WWE. But Pattillo is in that upper level for a reason and it's not because he backed down from challenges no matter how daunting. Scabbia thinks losing the Intercontinental Title was the worst night of his life? He hasn't seen anything yet.

Second Match: Gavin Jones vs. Rick Hilton
A preview of this Sunday's tag team title match as it's challenger vs. champion here. These teams mesh well against each other and it's no different here as the smaller Jones keeps up with the big baddie in Hilton. Hilton's partner Julian Merrick senses trouble afoot and offers interference in the form of a chair to Gavin's back allowing Hilton to score a roll-up pin for the victory. Michael Haywood comes into object to this tomfoolery and the heels get driven off. *****, 95% overall.

Backstage, Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle are talking about how Jenna wasn't on Raw due to some vital soul searching that needed to be done. She wasn't sure how things were going to play out after what went down after the Iron Woman match. But the handshake she shared with Faith and the fact that Hannah McCormick won't shut her damn mouth and that Nathan Quinn thinks he's owed something put a lot of things into perspective. Lisa Benton walks into the picture and thinks it's great that the two of them hashed things out and that it's given her an idea. She wants the two of them to team up with Caleb Greene to face Lonny Richards, Leah, and Hannah McCormick at Night of Champions. To work out the kinks, though, tonight she wants the two of them to team up and face C.J. and Arianna.

Third Match: Xavier Cross vs. Cameron Harper
Sorry, Harper. I know things haven't been going your way these last few months but Cross has an important match in his future. Cross cheats his way to a victory here to BUILD MOMENTUM as Kerry Cemenko watches from backstage. Cross declares that we're all looking at the next number one contender. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Backstage, Aphrodite is with Caleb Greene giving their thoughts on Lisa Benton's announcement earlier. He's heading into a volatile situation for sure but he has all the confidence in the world in Jenna and Faith. The only person that needs to watch themselves is Lonny Richards.

Fourth Match: Seth Von Kamp vs. Ronnie Costello
Salvatore Scabbia is at ringside in support of his stablemate in the absence of Carmella. Von Kamp continues to look good. Something special is sure to be in store for him in the future (). Certainly not right now as Scabbia sees fit to attack him for the DQ after the Collapse of Society connects. Scabbia looks to do some more damage but Ryan Pattillo runs down to check his privilege. It's all for naught as Scabbia gets the upper hand on him and locks in the Omerta to leave Pattillo laid out. ****1/2, 90% overall.

In-Ring Super Special Talky Time with the Queen of Queens, Naomi Bailey. She has her whole royal get up with her and offers it up to the audience as a reminder of who the hell she is. Never forget it and never forget how close she came to becoming Women's Champion at WrestleMania because Sonya Braddock's luck is running out. Enjoy these last few days and remember this moment in time because she's going to rub it in the faces of all the doubters when she ends Braddock at Night of Champions. Braddock isn't in the mood to be listening to this royal decree and she sneaks up behind Naomi divests her of her royal garments. Naomi bails in humiliation and anger and yells back some threats towards the champion.

Fifth Match: Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle vs. C.J. and Arianna
All eyes are on the face team to see how well they're going to get along here. I believe the rating at the end will speak for itself as far as that's concerned. Jenna hits Arianna with the Kyle Driver to pick up the pin. Afterwards, Hannah McCormick and Leah cut the reunion short and attack the faces leaving them laid out. *****, 96% overall.

Sixth Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns and Orlando Kincaid vs. Kyle Jacobs and Alexander Piero
Reigns has ZERO interest in participating in this match and lets Kincaid do all of the work. He declares he has more important things to be worried about. He does, however, nail Jacobs with his title belt when it looks like Kincaid might suffer a Legacy Bomb and that's enough for a DQ. We get a big brawl to close things out. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Final Segment: Quentin McDaniels and the WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming are out to talk about how much they don't like each other but they dislike the idea of either Haven and Carmichael becoming champion even more. Despite these rough past few weeks there is an understanding that working together to crush the opposition is for the greater good. McDaniels claims it's necessary to get Carmichael and Haven out of the way so that there will be a clear path to him winning the Unified World Title. Fleming takes exception to this and points out that McDaniels is just the last man Fleming has to deal with in order to retain his title. If McDaniels couldn't take care of Carmichael at WrestleMania THERE'S NO WAY he can handle Fleming. McDaniels looks like he's ready to drop Fleming right here and now but Haven interrupts to offer his take. Seeing the two jackals in the ring right now shows how there is no honor among thieves. Even the most craven of all animals will turn and eat each other when desperation sets in and Fleming and McDaniels are dripping with desperation.

Carmichael joins Haven out on the stage and questions how much desperation Haven has. Haven has come oh so close on several occasions but that title keeps getting yanked away. Well Carmichael is willing to be up front about things and he's letting Haven know that Carmichael will be the one to yank it away this time around.

Fleming demands everyone pays attention to him because as the champion he's the only one that matters around here. He didn't come back from exile just to be put on the backburner. He's come this far and he's at the top of the mountain and he's nowhere near ready to get shoved off so all three of his opponents can kiss his ass. "If you guys don't like it you can do something about it right now!"

Haven and Carmichael ponder this over and eventually decide to head to the ring and confront McDaniels and Fleming. Fleming, of course, leaves McDaniels high and dry and we have a brawl on our hands as poor McDaniels gets knocked around. Fleming eventually finds his courage when the faces pause to glare at each other. The whole party ends with Fleming laying out Carmichael with a Slaughterhouse Special, McDaniels laying out Fleming with the Great Depression and finally Haven standing tall over everyone after laying out McDaniels with the Sting of Solace. End of show!

Overall show rating: 89%

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G SmackDown!: June 22, 2040 It's the go home show before Night of Champions! NOBODY BETTER SCREW ANYTHING UP! Opening Match: WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Former Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody vs. Josh Turmell Hotbody comes out alone looking quite distressed. He talks about how unfair it's going to be thsi Sunday and that he will be at the event UNDER SEVERE PROTEST!!! The only thing more sickening than going through with it is the fact that Jordan Demiras feels that he needs to stoop to this level just to have a chance at getting back the title. What kind of a man is that? He'll show Demiras how a real man handles things. Thus the match commences and it's hot opener thanks to Hotbody's heat-drawing skills. Turmell is out here on the wrong night however as Hotbody uses his resourcefulness to set up and nail the Hot Ticket for the win. Afterwards, Hotbody brags about maybe he has nothing to worry about after all! He doesn't need Zed Jones at his side and he doesn't need to feel guilty about anything. HE'S MICHAEL HOTBODY GOD DAMMIT AND HE LOVES HIMSELF!!! Jordan Demiras should be the one begging to call things off. In fact, if he were out here right now, Hotbody would give him a preview of things to come! Cue Jordan Demiras himself who takes Hotbody up on that offer. Hotbody tries escaping to the sanctuary of underneath the ring but Demiras pulls him out. WHACK! Hotbody had a pipe in his hand! He proceeds to punish Demiras some more before officials come down to break things up. Hotbody looks like he's regained his confidence. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Hotbody was just fixing a plumbing issue under the ring and Demiras rudely interrupted him.

Second Match: Gavin Jones vs. Rick Hilton A preview of this Sunday's tag team title match as it's challenger vs. champion here. These teams mesh well against each other and it's no different here as the smaller Jones keeps up with the big baddie in Hilton. Hilton's partner Julian Merrick senses trouble afoot and offers interference in the form of a chair to Gavin's back allowing Hilton to score a roll-up pin for the victory. Michael Haywood comes into object to this tomfoolery and the heels get driven off. *****, 95% overall.

When even the tag specialists put on incredible singles matches.

Backstage, Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle are talking about how Jenna wasn't on Raw due to some vital soul searching that needed to be done. She wasn't sure how things were going to play out after what went down after the Iron Woman match. But the handshake she shared with Faith and the fact that Hannah McCormick won't shut her damn mouth and that Nathan Quinn thinks he's owed something put a lot of things into perspective. Lisa Benton walks into the picture and thinks it's great that the two of them hashed things out and that it's given her an idea. She wants the two of them to team up with Caleb Greene to face Lonny Richards, Leah, and Hannah McCormick at Night of Champions. To work out the kinks, though, tonight she wants the two of them to team up and face C.J. and Arianna.

Work out the kinks huh? I think they appeal to a lot of kinks

Fifth Match: Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle vs. C.J. and Arianna All eyes are on the face team to see how well they're going to get along here. I believe the rating at the end will speak for itself as far as that's concerned. Jenna hits Arianna with the Kyle Driver to pick up the pin. Afterwards, Hannah McCormick and Leah cut the reunion short and attack the faces leaving them laid out. *****, 96% overall.

Yep, hot women putting on excellent wrassling matches. Kink central. Hannah McCormick is a damn jezebel.

Sixth Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns and Orlando Kincaid vs. Kyle Jacobs and Alexander Piero
Reigns has ZERO interest in participating in this match and lets Kincaid do all of the work. He declares he has more important things to be worried about. He does, however, nail Jacobs with his title belt when it looks like Kincaid might suffer a Legacy Bomb and that's enough for a DQ. We get a big brawl to close things out. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Final Segment: Quentin McDaniels and the WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming are out to talk about how much they don't like each other but they dislike the idea of either Haven and Carmichael becoming champion even more. Despite these rough past few weeks there is an understanding that working together to crush the opposition is for the greater good. McDaniels claims it's necessary to get Carmichael and Haven out of the way so that there will be a clear path to him winning the Unified World Title. Fleming takes exception to this and points out that McDaniels is just the last man Fleming has to deal with in order to retain his title. If McDaniels couldn't take care of Carmichael at WrestleMania THERE'S NO WAY he can handle Fleming. McDaniels looks like he's ready to drop Fleming right here and now but Haven interrupts to offer his take. Seeing the two jackals in the ring right now shows how there is no honor among thieves. Even the most craven of all animals will turn and eat each other when desperation sets in and Fleming and McDaniels are dripping with desperation. Carmichael joins Haven out on the stage and questions how much desperation Haven has. Haven has come oh so close on several occasions but that title keeps getting yanked away. Well Carmichael is willing to be up front about things and he's letting Haven know that Carmichael will be the one to yank it away this time around. Fleming demands everyone pays attention to him because as the champion he's the only one that matters around here. He didn't come back from exile just to be put on the backburner. He's come this far and he's at the top of the mountain and he's nowhere near ready to get shoved off so all three of his opponents can kiss his ass. "If you guys don't like it you can do something about it right now!" Haven and Carmichael ponder this over and eventually decide to head to the ring and confront McDaniels and Fleming. Fleming, of course, leaves McDaniels high and dry and we have a brawl on our hands as poor McDaniels gets knocked around. Fleming eventually finds his courage when the faces pause to glare at each other. The whole party ends with Fleming laying out Carmichael with a Slaughterhouse Special, McDaniels laying out Fleming with the Great Depression and finally Haven standing tall over everyone after laying out McDaniels with the Sting of Solace. End of show!

The finisher flurry ahead of a multi-man match is a time honored tradition that will never get old with me. Great Depression is yet another great finisher name.

Since these are fictional wrestlers, I tend to visualize them based on their names and Butch Fleming ends up looking like "The Butcher" Andy Williams from AEW, who also happens to be the guitarist for Every Time I Die.

[M-A-G]

Lana? Is Miro Rusev from the WWE?

[M-A-G]

Hmmm, a quick Google search does indeed confirm my suspicions...and also that Miro was indeed Rusev back in the WWE....

[Evil Vito]

I thought posting this previously was a giveaway that it was him but maybe he didn't have a sweet mustache when you stopped watching

Anyway, the good thing about AEW is I think most of their WWE imports have made sense. Most of the guys they've brought in either had recent star power coming in (Jon Moxley aka Dean Ambrose), were already established names people knew to help them get off the ground (Jericho, Matt Hardy) or people everyone thought had greater potential but were underutilized (Rusev/Miro, FTR/The Revival, Luke Harper/Brodie Lee)

That said, while I don't think they've "pulled a TNA" or anything, it's also a different wrestling landscape now. WWE has like 300 wrestlers under contract, almost everybody out there has been to WWE at one point or another.

[M-A-G]

I thought he looked familiar but I didn't think anything of it. I've been out of the loop for a good length of time. I wouldn't have immediately considered Rusev jumping ship to another promotion. I guess more people are finding the grass greener in other pastures and really I don't blame them.

[Evil Vito]

Yeah he had asked for his release a few times but got denied as WWE wanted to hoard as many people as possible now that there is competition. Then the pandemic started and WWE then released tons of guys who had asked for their release like Rusev, as well as a bunch of the undercard guys who had been there for years (Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Curtis Axel, Heath Slater, Erick Rowan etc)

[M-A-G]

NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS!!! June 24, 2040

Tonight's theme song is "Nocturnal" by New Years Day.



PRE-SHOW MATCH: Number One Contenders Match for the WWE Unified World TItle: Xavier Cross vs. Kerry Cemenko
I'm just going to let the match report speak for itself.



NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS BEGINS!!!

Opening Match: Lonny Richards, Leah, and Hannah McCormick vs. Caleb Greene, Faith Connors, and Jenna Kyle
The real test of teamwork for Jenna and Faith and it goes pretty well. The faces are all about that high-flying goodness, well, Faith and Caleb that is. It comes down to Greene and Richards as the women take care of their business on the outside. Nathan Quinn screws up his interference causing Lonny to get knocked to the ground leaving him vulnerable for a Green With Envy off the top rope for the pin. ****1/2, 92% overall.

Second Match: Martyn LaSalle vs. Jason Sorola
Winner gets a shot at the Cruiserweight Title. These guys are more technical and submission oriented than the other cruiserweights. It's a clinic on awesome mat wrestling but it comes to an end when LaSalle suckers Sorola in after playing possom and locks in the Martynizer for the tap out victory. *****, 96% overall.

Third Match: WWE Unified Tag Team Titles
The Future Foundation (c) vs. The Play Pals
If there was a way I could donate my teams I'd do it without question. It's a shame I'm essentially pulling the plug on the feud here but it's important to learn and grow. Unfortunately, The Royal Effect haven't learned that lesson and run down to cause some tomfoolery that allows to Julian Merrick to hit Michael Haywood with the Black Sheep to score the pin and retain the titles. The Royal Effect aren't done with the Play Pals and they proceed to just dismantle the two with a beat down. *****, 98% overall.

Fourth Match: Steel Cage Match for the WWE Cruiserweight Title
Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody (c) vs. Jordan Demiras
Hotbody's sudden regained confidence immediately disappears the minute he sees the cage and thus tries to turn and bail. Lisa Benton comes out on the stage and simply shakes her head and points back to the ring signaling for Hotbody that he'd better get his ass in the cage. He's still hesitant so Benton has some nice security actually come down and physically carry Hotbody, kicking and screaming, to the cage. He's finally shoved in and the match can commence and shock of shocks, Hotbody's begging and pleading to Jordan Demiras has no effect. Demiras controls for a LOOOONG period of time just beating the shit out of Hotbody and busting him open. Hotbody can only manage a few bursts of desperation here and there. It comes down to the time where Demiras feels he's ready to escape the cage but ZED JONES SLAMS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE!!! WHERE DID HE COME FROM??? WHAT'S HE DOING?!?!? Hotbody recovers enough to where he signals for Jones to hand him something and thus Jones slides something over to the champion. It's a shard of a broken record! Hotbody uses it to bloody effects as Demiras gets cut open and even tries to jam it in his eye. He bounces Demiras around the cage walls a few times and now he calls for Jones to hand him something else. IT'S THE PIPE FROM SMACKDOWN!. Hotbody goes to town on Demiras who is just a mess at this point. When enough damage is done Hotbody casually walks out the door and celebrates with Jones to retain. BUT HE'S STILL NOT DONE! Hotbody invites Jones into the cage because it's actually kind of cool and fun and that he can scratch it off his bucket list. Thus the two enter and proceed to annihilate Demiras. Jones drags Demiras over to the door and Hotbody proceeds to repeatedly slam the door into his head, all while singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Officials finally come down to put an end to it all and thus Hotbody leaves with his title via piggyback on Zed Jones. ****1/4, 90% overall.

Fifth Match: Ryan Pattillo vs. Salvatore Scabbia
Oof, after all of that intense and physical violence let's follow it up with...some intense and physical violence. This is an awesome brawl as Scabbia looks to step up to the big time by crushing a top name in Pattillo. Pattillo is game but Brooke continues to pay dividends by working her magic causing enough of a fuss to allow Scabbia to lock in the Omerta. Pattillo holds out as long as he can, probably longer than anyone else even coming close to the ropes on several occasions but it's only a matter of time before he breaks down and passes out. Scabbia walks away with the win. ****1/2, 91% overall.

Sixth Match: Women's Title
Sonya Braddock (c) vs. Naomi Bailey
The physicality continues as these two are just brutes in the women's division. Braddock is able to utilize more technique though and that's enough to keep things even for the duration of the match. Naomi must sense that she's in trouble as she goes to the outside to regain her senses, crouched in front of the apron. Braddock goes to recover her but Naomi pops up with a surprise shot to the face with her scepter! This knocks Braddock back into the ref and Naomi takes advantage by quickly getting in as many shots with the scepter as she can before the ref recovers. She tosses her royal accessory just in time and pulls Braddock up to hit a Bail Out. She's not satisfied and picks up Braddock and hits another one. Naomi is all about playing it safe and thus goes on to hit a third Bail Out and that's enough for the pin and to crown A NEW Women's Champion. *****, 96% overall.

Seventh Match: WWE Intercontinental Title
Brandon Reigns (c) vs. Kyle Jacobs
Both Kyle's dad and uncle are in the front row for this. These guys are just gelling like Magellan. Jacobs, unfortunately, is in the wrong time as Reigns is just on too much of a hot streak. Plus he's down with cheating. Thus he makes it a point to go after Kyle's family in the crowd and of course Kyle goes to defend their honor BUT IT'S A TRAP as Reigns sends Kyle into the ringpost as he was checking on his dad. Back into the ring, Reigns hits the Iron Reign and scores the pin and retains the title. *****, 94% overall.

MAIN EVENT: Fatal Four Way for the WWE Unified World Title
Butch Fleming (c) vs. Haven vs. Noah Carmichael vs. Quentin McDaniels
This is one fall to a finish and it's chaos defined as any notion of partnerships is just tossed out the window. Fleming gets introduced to the announce table is out for a good while. The ref is bumped when Carmichael sends McDaniels to the outside. The end comes when Quentin McDaniels prevents Carmichael from pinning Haven after he connects with the Quick Draw. Carmichael and McDaniels have their own sequence and Carmichael manages to connect with the Quick Draw. The ref crawls back inside! ONE...TWO...THREE!!! Your winner....AND STILL the WWE Unified World Champion, BUTCH FLEMING! Wait, what? Everyone's confused but we see that Fleming managed to crawl back in himself and lazily drape himself over Haven as the ref came back in. The ref only saw Fleming's pin! He's happy to get the win and bails back up the ramp rubbing it in everyone's faces! ****1/2, 94% overall.

End of show. Overall rating: 95%

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G PRE-SHOW MATCH: Number One Contenders Match for the WWE Unified World TItle: Xavier Cross vs. Kerry Cemenko I'm just going to let the match report speak for itself.

GOAT match candidate on the pre-show, good lord. They must have nuclear heat with the rest of the roster after that one.

NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS BEGINS!!!

Opening Match: Lonny Richards, Leah, and Hannah McCormick vs. Caleb Greene, Faith Connors, and Jenna Kyle The real test of teamwork for Jenna and Faith and it goes pretty well. The faces are all about that high-flying goodness, well, Faith and Caleb that is. It comes down to Greene and Richards as the women take care of their business on the outside. Nathan Quinn screws up his interference causing Lonny to get knocked to the ground leaving him vulnerable for a Green With Envy off the top rope for the pin. ****1/2, 92% overall.

Men taking the fall in intergender tag matches? What promotion is this?? Good stuff from Faith and Kyle.

Fourth Match: Steel Cage Match for the WWE Cruiserweight Title Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody (c) vs. Jordan Demiras Hotbody's sudden regained confidence immediately disappears the minute he sees the cage and thus tries to turn and bail. Lisa Benton comes out on the stage and simply shakes her head and points back to the ring signaling for Hotbody that he'd better get his ass in the cage. He's still hesitant so Benton has some nice security actually come down and physically carry Hotbody, kicking and screaming, to the cage. He's finally shoved in and the match can commence and shock of shocks, Hotbody's begging and pleading to Jordan Demiras has no effect. Demiras controls for a LOOOONG period of time just beating the shit out of Hotbody and busting him open. Hotbody can only manage a few bursts of desperation here and there. It comes down to the time where Demiras feels he's ready to escape the cage but ZED JONES SLAMS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE!!! WHERE DID HE COME FROM??? WHAT'S HE DOING?!?!? Hotbody recovers enough to where he signals for Jones to hand him something and thus Jones slides something over to the champion. It's a shard of a broken record! Hotbody uses it to bloody effects as Demiras gets cut open and even tries to jam it in his eye. He bounces Demiras around the cage walls a few times and now he calls for Jones to hand him something else. IT'S THE PIPE FROM SMACKDOWN!. Hotbody goes to town on Demiras who is just a mess at this point. When enough damage is done Hotbody casually walks out the door and celebrates with Jones to retain. BUT HE'S STILL NOT DONE! Hotbody invites Jones into the cage because it's actually kind of cool and fun and that he can scratch it off his bucket list. Thus the two enter and proceed to annihilate Demiras. Jones drags Demiras over to the door and Hotbody proceeds to repeatedly slam the door into his head, all while singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Officials finally come down to put an end to it all and thus Hotbody leaves with his title via piggyback on Zed Jones. ****1/4, 90% overall.

Zed Jones never turned on Hotbody! IT WAS ALL A RUSE BAH GAWD! The visual of the repeated cage door shots to the head while Hotbody sings is astounding

Sixth Match: Women's Title Sonya Braddock (c) vs. Naomi Bailey The physicality continues as these two are just brutes in the women's division. Braddock is able to utilize more technique though and that's enough to keep things even for the duration of the match. Naomi must sense that she's in trouble as she goes to the outside to regain her senses, crouched in front of the apron. Braddock goes to recover her but Naomi pops up with a surprise shot to the face with her scepter! This knocks Braddock back into the ref and Naomi takes advantage by quickly getting in as many shots with the scepter as she can before the ref recovers. She tosses her royal accessory just in time and pulls Braddock up to hit a Bail Out. She's not satisfied and picks up Braddock and hits another one. Naomi is all about playing it safe and thus goes on to hit a third Bail Out and that's enough for the pin and to crown A NEW Women's Champion. *****, 96% overall.

THAT is the way to take the belt off of a monster like Sonya - triple finishers! Great way to put her over even in a loss and there are no shortage of heels for Naomi to face.

MAIN EVENT: Fatal Four Way for the WWE Unified World Title Butch Fleming (c) vs. Haven vs. Noah Carmichael vs. Quentin McDaniels This is one fall to a finish and it's chaos defined as any notion of partnerships is just tossed out the window. Fleming gets introduced to the announce table is out for a good while. The ref is bumped when Carmichael sends McDaniels to the outside. The end comes when Quentin McDaniels prevents Carmichael from pinning Haven after he connects with the Quick Draw. Carmichael and McDaniels have their own sequence and Carmichael manages to connect with the Quick Draw. The ref crawls back inside! ONE...TWO...THREE!!! Your winner....AND STILL the WWE Unified World Champion, BUTCH FLEMING! Wait, what? Everyone's confused but we see that Fleming managed to crawl back in himself and lazily drape himself over Haven as the ref came back in. The ref only saw Fleming's pin! He's happy to get the win and bails back up the ramp rubbing it in everyone's faces! ****1/2, 94% overall. End of show. Overall rating: 95%

Sneaky way to swipe the win. Surprised to see a clean sweep for the heels in title matches but there's so many viable face contenders and big face retribution on the horizon for one of the big PPVs. 95% rating is stellar.

[M-A-G]

Had I known that Cross and Cemenko would have received that rating I'd have put them on the PPV proper. I wouldn't have expected that. Cross has quality stats and while Cemenko is no slouch, his charisma is relatively weak in comparison with an 83. I guess the prospect of him main eventing again lit a fire under his ass.

I'm fine with Caleb and Lonny but in the grand scheme of things, Faith and Jenna are way above them on the totem pole. I try protecting them whenever I can. And I also make sure they don't look weak in the ring! HEY YO! *rimshot*

In regards to Naomi, I think you meant there's no shortage of faces for her to defend against. I don't think I've done her versus Faith in a proper one-on-one match but no doubt it'd make all the monies.

[M-A-G]

Still working out the kinks for King of the Ring. I have 5 weeks instead of the usual four until the PPV and I'm going back and forth between doing 32 or 16 participants.

I should also note that I had a Russo moment when determining how to end the Hotbody/Demiras match. I had thought about turning Lisa Benton heel on Demiras because she actually WAS trying to get into his pants but he was completely oblivious to her advances and intentions. I immediately dismissed it because it was pretty stupid and had no real payoff.

[Evil Vito]

With that much time and 3 shows I think 32 would be doable, the more the merrier with that roster.

I actually think it would've been more of a Russo thing if Benton had turned because she decided she was strangely drawn to Hotbody. A play on that whole trope of "nice girl falls for the blatant asshole". Hotbody spends months criticizing Demiras for getting unfair treatment via railing the boss only to see no issue with it now that he's the one doing the railing.

[Evil Vito]

Only one more Dynamite until Crossroads and it's gonna seem like I've booked the entire card on 3 days notice but in reality AEW use social media to advance feuds/post promos etc and there's no real way to account for that here.

And going back to a monthly large event format is giving me fits. I got used to it running WWE games all these years, since I nearly always had a brand split it was fine enough to treat the brand-exclusive PPVs as souped up Raw and SmackDown episodes whilst building to the actual big shows.

I mean yeah the non-PPV large events COULD be souped up Dynamites but it's tough not to have it feel thrown together in places. Of course having to plan Sting's retirement in 3 weeks didn't help.

[Evil Vito]

I think real life AEW outdid me this week with how they handled the Inner Circle dissension storyline last night.

The group (sans Wardlow) was in the ring doing a promo, Jericho says it's time to shake up the group and MJF says maybe they should trim the fat. Sammy Guevara then plays a video he shot from the Inner Circle locker room showing the other members agreeing to overthrow Jericho and put MJF in charge.

Cut to the ring, everyone looks ready to beat down Jericho only everyone to turn around and now all the founding members have cornered MJF instead. "You think we don't talk every day and didn't already know what you were trying to do?"

MJF begs off like a bitch and then says "I swear i wasn't trying to take over your Inner Circle, I was too busy forming my own" leading to Wardlow, FTR, and Shawn Spears sneaking into the ring and doing an ambush. FTR and Spears aligning after I stuck them together in my game.

Anyway, it's now a face Inner Circle vs. a heel whatever the hell MJF's group is gonna be called. It might actually justify doing a Blood and Guts match down the line. I love me a stable war.

I just thought it was cool because EVERYBODY thought Jericho was getting usurped and turning face, only to subvert expectations by turning the entire original stable face instead and letting MJF reign with a brand new group as the ultimate dickhead heel.

[M-A-G]

Nah, your way is more interesting. I'm down with a mega heel stable who intentions are to beat the shit out of the old timers.

[M-A-G]

Raw: June 25, 2040

It's the night after Night of Champions and we begin the march to King of the Ring! This year will be a 32-man tournament and the invitations are being sent out tonight. Who will win the crown this year and go on to SummerSlam to compete for the Unified World Title in the main event?

We open with a very special edition of the Hot Ticket with everyone's favorite host, the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, The Undefeated Steel Cage Master Former Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody. Hotbody declares that he is 3-0 against Jordan Demiras in big match situations and that right there should be enough for their business to be over and done. If nobody wants to use that as a measure well then just take a look at Jordan's current status after what happened to him last night! It'll be a long time before Demiras is ready to come back and even then he might just have to think twice about ever considering stepping into the ring with Hotbody. Just to make it clear as to who is at fault, Lisa Benton was warned time and time again that there was no need to go through with a cage match so what happened to Jordan Demiras IS ALL HER FAULT!!! Hotbody hopes that she can sleep at night with that knowledge. Enough about those two, though, this is also about a very special someone and that is Zed Jones, who had a last minute change of heart last night and was present to correct certain injustices THAT WAS TOTALLY NOT PART OF A PLAN OR RUSE!!! It's important that's emphasized. Zed deserves more than just a thank you so Hotbody has taken it upon himself to pull some strings and get Zed a suitable reward. "Here you go, man. I want you to have my King of the Ring invitation. You earned this and you deserve a chance to get at the same level of success as me!"

The music of Martyn LaSalle interrupts the lovefest and the number one contender to the Cruiserweight Title comes out on the stage. "Hotbody, I'd call you an idiot for handing over such a key to immortality as a chance to become King of the Ring but in a way I understand it. You're obviously going to be using the extra time you'll be having to focus on your next challenge to your championship...which is me. Now, that's down the road, granted but unlike you, I can multitask. See, I have an invitation for the King of the Ring tournament, too, and what better way to cap off the summer than to win the tournament, beat you for the Cruiserweight Title, and then headline SummerSlam and win the Unified World Title? It'd be history but like I said, I'm sure you're going to be laser focused on preparing for me and not occupying yourself with dance parties and press conferences, because that'd be pretty embarrassing if you're not."

"Hey! I don't need to listen to this! I especially don't need to hear it from some sap who doesn't even know the meaning of true friendship. This is all about the true friendship that I value with Zed Jones but that's lost on someone like you. I mean, the last friend you had beat you to a pulp and went on to challenge for the World Title and never looked back! I'm always ready and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to embarrass you!"

"Well, that's good to hear. I mean I was worried I was going to be facing the sniveling little whiny bitch who cried over a broken record but now that I know that you're taking this seriously I look forward to no excuses coming out of your mouth to try to get out of this. Even more importantly I look forward to becoming champion one more time. Cheers!" And with that LaSalle takes his leave as Hotbody is left annoyed.

Backstage, Nathan Quinn is with Leah and they're irate with Jenna Kyle. Leah wants to know if Jenna thinks she's better than her just because she doesn't feel like she needs to join up with Nathan Quinn. Jenna will learn the hard way that her decisions have consequences.

First Match: Ozzy Mandias vs. Romeo Valiente
Lisa Benton sweetens the pot by offering the winner an invitation to the King of the Ring tournament. This is essentially a feud ender and they give it their all. Ozzy is the young up-and-comer and Valiente's shelf life is running short so the outcome shouldn't be in doubt. Indeed, Ozzy nails the Blizzard of Oz and picks up the pin. *****, 95% overall.

In-Ring Super Special Talky Time with the Royal Effect, Moses McKay and King Kavovit. They talk about what they did last night in costing the Play Pals the Unified Tag Team Titles. The Royal Effect should have been the ones with the title shot at Night of Champions. They're the new hip thing in the tag team division. The Play Pals are yesterday's news and had no business getting that title shot. How messed up is it that the Royal Effect, the hottest thing going on right now, had to take a backseat to a pair of man-children hopped up on video games and geekery? If anyone has a problem with that, they'll have no problem proving themselves right by putting an end to the Play Pals!

Naturally this brings out the duo of Gavin Jones and Michael Haywood to try to get some measure of payback. The Royal Effect have other ideas though and decide to pack it in and bail.

Second Match: The Dillingers vs. The Young Bloods
Nothing wrong with tossing in an awesome tag team match in the middle of all the drama. The Dillingers get the nod here after Joey hits Sully Lane with the Dillinger Escape Plan off the top for the pin. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Backstage, WWE Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns wants to brag about retaining his title. Jacobs was an idiot for bringing his family to Night of Champions, thinking it was going to be some big moment of triumph. All it did was screw him over. Really, though, family or no family, Jacobs was going to be in for some major disappointment either way. The interview is interrupted when a stagehand comes in and hands Reigns an envelope.

"What's this?" Reigns asks.

"It's your King of the Ring invitation."

"It's my King of the Ring invitation, SIR! Look, never mind." Reigns hands the envelope back. "I'm guessing you and Lisa Benton didn't pay attention when I announced my plans for my Money in the Bank contract. I already have a guaranteed title shot right here. I don't need to overextend myself unnecessarily. I'm taking the Unified World Title at WrestleMania. So take that invitation back to Benton and she can have the peons fight over it." With that, Reigns takes his leave.

Third Match: Conner Buchanan vs. Doug Michaels
Buchanan's manager, Paul Andrews is on commentary boasting about what he's been doing to help get Buchanan back on track. Nothing major here other than a menas to make Buchanan look good as I have plans for him. Buchanan gets the pin after a pretty even match. ****1/2, 92% overall.

Fourth Match: WWE Women's Champion Naomi Bailey vs. Frankie
Naomi rubs it in the faces of the crowd that she's the new champion just like she said she was going to do! Braddock's cockiness got the better of her and she underestimated Naomi's resolve! No one had better make that same mistake again for their own sake! Anyways, the match is designed to put Naomi over as an arrogant monster. She still cheats to win just to be a bitch. ****1/2, 91% overall.

Backstage, Noah Carmichael wants to rip into Butch Fleming. Fleming has the luck of fools on his side because otherwise you'd be looking at the new Unified World Champion. Quentin McDaniels walks into the picture and takes offense to this. Carmichael claims that he had McDaniels dead to rights last night. McDaniels counters that there's no way Carmichael could pull another miracle out of his ass in another one on one scenario. Lisa Benton comes in to cool things down and hands them both an invitation to the King of the Ring. She tells them to pick themselves up and shake off the dust because they're going to have their hands full.

Fifth Match: Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle vs. Billie Padgett and Emma Edwards
The Brooklyn Sisterhood reunite to try their hands at the faces. I'm still working on a name for Jenna and Faith. Anyways, it's a David vs. Goliath situation as the heels are just powerhouses. Hannah McCormick tries to insert herself into the picture but that backfires as Padgett collides with her off an Irish whip. Connors hits the Mirror's Edge to score the pin. *****, 96% overall.

MAIN EVENT: Kerry Cemenko vs. Orlando Kincaid
Cemenko is looking to BUILD MOMENTUM as he is the new number one contender to the Unified World Title. Butch Fleming comes down to observe his latest challenger. The end comes when Cemenko sets up for the Curb Stomp but Fleming 'accidentally' trips him up coming off the ropes. That's enough for a DQ and Fleming hops into the ring looking to get himself a piece. Alexander Piero runs down to take care of Kincaid in an attempt to keep things even but the rookie is in over his head and he, too, falls victim. We go off the air with Fleming standing tall raising his belts over his head. *****, 95% overall.

Overall show rating: 90%

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G Fifth Match: Faith Connors and Jenna Kyle vs. Billie Padgett and Emma Edwards The Brooklyn Sisterhood reunite to try their hands at the faces. I'm still working on a name for Jenna and Faith. Anyways, it's a David vs. Goliath situation as the heels are just powerhouses. Hannah McCormick tries to insert herself into the picture but that backfires as Padgett collides with her off an Irish whip. Connors hits the Mirror's Edge to score the pin. *****, 96% overall. MAIN EVENT: Kerry Cemenko vs. Orlando Kincaid Cemenko is looking to BUILD MOMENTUM as he is the new number one contender to the Unified World Title. Butch Fleming comes down to observe his latest challenger. The end comes when Cemenko sets up for the Curb Stomp but Fleming 'accidentally' trips him up coming off the ropes. That's enough for a DQ and Fleming hops into the ring looking to get himself a piece. Alexander Piero runs down to take care of Kincaid in an attempt to keep things even but the rookie is in over his head and he, too, falls victim. We go off the air with Fleming standing tall raising his belts over his head. *****, 95% overall. Overall show rating: 90%

well that's quite a double whammy

As a battle royal mark I'm always gonna be thrilled to see one, I like that you have justifiable reasons for Hotbody and Reigns deciding to nope their way right out of the tournament. Faces can criticize Reigns for being a dope because there's worse things in life than having a second World Title match guaranteed, but it plays with his character to not participate.

Even your dud shows draw better ratings than a normal promotion but yeah I've always appreciated that dud shows don't impact the snowflake ratings. Cause I mean, a good in-ring match is a good in-ring match. The real penalty is the crowd reaction slipping a bit because for whatever reason they're just having an off night.

Glad you went with a 32-man tourney bring on the snowflakes

[M-A-G]

Superstars: June 28, 2040

We open with Lisa Benton addressing the fact that Brandon Reigns surrendered his invitation for the King of the Ring tournament. Therefore, for tonight's main event, 20 men will compete in an over-the-top-rope battle royal where the winner will receive that invitation as the prize. It's vital that all of the players are in place as the tournament kicks off tomorrow night on SmackDown!. Also tonight, Michael Haywood of the Play Pals will face off against King Kavovit of the Royal Effect.

First Match: Martyn LaSalle vs. Joey Osbourne
It's always nice to open with some hot cruiserweight goodness. LaSalle obviously needs the rub here as he's looking to not only challenge for the Cruiserweight Title but also compete in the King of the Tournament. LaSalle has a few brief moments where he looks over his shoulder as if keeping an eye out for Hotbody and any shenanigans he may be up to but none arise. LaSalle scores the tap out win after locking in the Martynizer. ****1/2, 83% overall.

That 83% gives me pause that this might be a dud show.

Backstage, Paul Andrews leaves the locker room of his client, Conner Buchanan but runs into the Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns. Reigns wonders how the preparation is going for tonight. After all, Buchanan is one of the poor desperate sheep that's going to be in tonight's battle royal. Reigns declares that he will be watching it all unfold with amusement. Andrews comments on what a paradox Brandon Reigns is. Here is someone who has come so far yet fallen even further at the same time. Reigns brings up how the two of them had a bit of a thing going way back when, kind of like what he had with Jake Connelly...and we all saw how that turned out. Andrews makes it clear that he has no interest in crossing Reigns in a match but warns that any client under his watch won't be so understanding.

Second Match: Leah vs. Missy Brantley
Leah isn't letting Night of Champions get her down. She's in prime form here as Nathan Quinn talks her up on commentary and rips Jenna Kyle for being a selfish idiot for not accepting his offer. Brantley makes a comeback and it's evidently enough to cause Quinn to leave the announce team and offer some aide. The distraction is enough for Leah to take advantage and hit the Sultry Splash for the win. ****1/2, 82% overall.

Yup, it's a dud show. My first in 4.2.

Third Match: The British Infection vs. Galino & Farnes
I should get Galino & Farnes a manager or something. Anyway, this is just some solid tag team action to give the crowd a cheap pop for the face victory. The Brits hit Farnes with the Queen's English to pick up the pin. ****1/2, 81% overall.

I love how in this game, being a dud show doesn't affect the star ratings. Had this been 3.0, that match would have been a **1/2.

Backstage, Madison is with her client, Alexander Piero. Piero knew that he'd eventually hit a rough patch on his rise through the ranks, he just didn't expect it to come in the form of decorated stars like Orlando Kincaid the World Champion himself. Some people would look at what happened on Raw and beg Piero to pick his battles a little better. Well, too late for that now because he's in the King of the Ring tournament and his first round opponent is none other than Orlando Kincaid. Who knows? First Kincaid, and then the World Title at SummerSlam?

Fourth Match: Michael Haywood vs. King Kavovit
Let the feud begin! This is, of course, stemming from the Royal Effect messing things up for the Play Pals at Night of Champions. Even the power of the almight DUD show can't stop these guys as Moses McKay lends a helping hand behind the ref's back and hits Haywood with the Mass Effect allowing Kavovit to pick up the pin. Gavin Jones chases the heels off afterwards. *****, 89% overall.

Backstage, Tania talks about wanting to be in line to challenge the new Women's Champion but she still has some unfinished business with Billie Padgett. She talks about needing to impress in order to get that recognition.

Fifth Match: Wolves of Wall Street vs. The Dillingers
More awesome tag team action. I feel bad pushing the Dillingers aside in the meantime but I have to give some other teams a shot at the champs. Ben Dillinger gets the pin over Hughes after a Frog Splash. *****, 86% overall. I give the finger to DUD shows.

In-Ring Super Special Talky Time with Hannah McCormick who shares Leah's frustration at how Night of Champions turned out. All Jenna and Faith did was buy themselves another day. Neither one of them can measure up to Hannah's star power. Maybe it's better for them if they take their little hugfest home and stay there because the people demand REAL women who are about getting things done. Faith is the worst of the worst because she suckers all of the people and gives nothing in return. Everyone here and watching at home should be ashamed of themselves for settling for a common street punk like Faith! Naturally, all of these insults aren't sitting well with Faith and she takes it upon herself to interrupt the tirade AND WE HAVE OURSELVES A CATFIGHT! Joey Styles, do your thing!

MAIN EVENT: 20-Man Battle Royal for the final spot in the King of the Ring Tournament.
Your participants: Blaine Bellamey, Conner Buchanan, Daniel St. Croix, Doug Michaels, El Silencio, Hugo, Isaac Wolff, Jerome McDougal, Jesse Capalbo, Julian Merrick, Marc Fury, Mathias, Patrick Dean Quartermaine, Rick Hilton, Robbie Greer, Seth Von Kamp, Stanley Coleman, Steve Hayes, Tom Foley, and Zachary Vale. The seeds for a Wyldhearts/Future Foundation feud are planted as they eliminate each other and crush poor Vivian Merrick in the process. It comes down to Conner Buchanan and Seth Von Kamp. Von Kamp is able to capitalize on Buchanan being pre-occupied with Brandon Reigns on the outside and thus gets the final elimination and goes on to the King of the Ring! 72% overall.

Overall show rating: 86%

[M-A-G]

So I guess I might as well post the brackets. Behold, the 2040 King of the Ring Tournament!

[M-A-G]

SmackDown!: June 29, 2040

It's the final show of the month and the King of the Ring Tournament kicks off tonight with not 1, not 2, not 3, not even 5, but FOUR first round matches. Shall we?

Opening Match: King of the Ring First Round - Azazel vs. Raymond Delaney
God, I really need to do more with Delaney. He's talented as fuck and has charisma. I need to start planning some feuds and who to phase out to make some room for newer guys. Now watch as I immediately undercut that sentiment as I have Vivian Merrick run distraction on behalf of Azazel to allow him to hit Delaney with the Demonator to score the win and advance to the next round. ****1/2, 92% overall. <----SEE WHAT I MEAN???

Second Match: King of the Ring First Round - Martyn LaSalle vs. Randy Ellis
LaSalle's future opponent, the Cruiserweight Champion Michael Hotbody observes from ringside. LaSalle every so often shoots the champion a glare as if to say "Stay right where the fuck you are, son!" This is a good little bout as Ellis isn't exactly a monster or anything but still enough to make LaSalle the underdog here. LaSalle is able to lock in the Martynizer after escaping an attempt from Ellis to hit Today's Lesson for the submission win. LaSalle points at Hotbody making a statement. *****, 95% overall.

Backstage, Paul Andrews is with his client Conner Buchanan and they are in a huff over Brandon Reigns and his actions. Buchanan points out how men like Jake Connelly and Paul Andrews are respected veterans for a reason. Reigns may think that it was pathetic for a bunch of guys to fight over a chance at something like King of the Ring but that's what separates Reigns from someone like Buchanan: the willingness to fight and not be complacent.

Backstage, Jenna Kyle is prepping for a photoshoot when Nathan Quinn creeps up behind her. Quinn muses how nice it must be for Jenna to be surrounded by so much glitz and glamour. Is this why she turned down his offer to take her under his wing? She could've had all that and even more but she just had to be a stubborn idiot about things. Jenna asks if there's anything he actually needs because she has a good mind to slap the taste of his mouth right now. Well since Jenna asks, Quinn is actually quite open to showing her what she shot down by offering a match against Leah on Raw. Jenna accepts and tells him to beat it. Quinn warns that this shoot might be her last one for a while if Leah has her way.

Third Match: The British Infection vs. The Millennium Rebels
I should bring this feud to some sort of close, too. This is just tag team goodness all around and in a bit of a reversal, the Brits' manager Fanatasee runs interference getting Sammy Brady all hot and bothered. He falls prey to the Brits' double team and unfortunately takes the pinfall loss. ****1/2, 92% overall.

Backstage, the Play Pals are in the mood to show the Royal Effect what for. The Play Pals may act the fools at times and maybe even dabble in the ludicrous but they take becoming champions seriously and won't let anyone just get away with it if they get screwed. The Royal Effect are just royal pains in the ass that are going to regret what they did.

Fourth Match: King of the Ring First Round - Shawn Dangerson vs. Chris Collins
Man, I've done nothing with Collins these last few weeks. Let's remedy that, shall we? Dangerson is game here tonight as this is quite the opportunity presented to him. He may be too much game as Collins has to resort to the old missing turnbuckle trick to score a cheap win and advance to the second round. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Backstage, we catch up with Michael Hotbody who is trying to leave the building. He's asked if he was impressed with what he saw tonight from Martyn LaSalle. "Impressed? Did he become King of the Ring already? Did he win the Unified World Title? Has he beaten me and taken my Cruiserweight Championship? What's there to be impressed about? That's like asking a woman if she's impressed with a guy after the first moan she makes. Remember, Zed Jones is in this tournament, too! He'll show all of you 'impressive'!"

Fifth Match: Tania vs. Emma Edwards
Billie Padgett is at ringside as she has Emma's back. This is mainly a means to continue the feud between Tania and Padgett. Padgett accidentally nails Emma with a clothesline intended for Tania and that leads to Tania hitting the Nose Dive for the pin. The heels show their support by laying her out afterward. *****, 96% overall.

Sixth Match: King of the Ring First Round - Alexander Piero vs. Orlando Kincaid
Continuing this little bit of drama in one hell of a contest. Piero may be something in the future if he keeps his head on straight. The end comes when Piero is able to beat the count back in and he advances to the second round as Kincaid throws a fit on the outside. ****1/2, 92% overall.

MAIN EVENT: Noah Carmichael and Kerry Cemenko vs. Quentin McDaniels and WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming
The heels just can't get on the same page here at all as they keep blind tagging each other in an attempt to alpha male the other. The end comes after a "Katy, bar the door" scenario and Fleming baits Carmichael into using one of the championship belts but Carmichael hits McDaniels accidentally when Fleming moves out of the way for the DQ. We get a brawl to close the show. *****, 95% overall.

Overall show rating: 93%

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G Opening Match: King of the Ring First Round - Azazel vs. Raymond Delaney God, I really need to do more with Delaney. He's talented as fuck and has charisma. I need to start planning some feuds and who to phase out to make some room for newer guys. Now watch as I immediately undercut that sentiment as I have Vivian Merrick run distraction on behalf of Azazel to allow him to hit Delaney with the Demonator to score the win and advance to the next round. ****1/2, 92% overall. <----SEE WHAT I MEAN???

see when your roster is as loaded as it is, everyone is super talented, so deciding who to phase out is no easy task. You can always use the "convert to manager" exploit as a means of writing people out of TV for a while and not kill their morale in the process.

Second Match: King of the Ring First Round - Martyn LaSalle vs. Randy Ellis LaSalle's future opponent, the Cruiserweight Champion Michael Hotbody observes from ringside. LaSalle every so often shoots the champion a glare as if to say "Stay right where the fuck you are, son!" This is a good little bout as Ellis isn't exactly a monster or anything but still enough to make LaSalle the underdog here. LaSalle is able to lock in the Martynizer after escaping an attempt from Ellis to hit Today's Lesson for the submission win. LaSalle points at Hotbody making a statement. *****, 95% overall.

The first of many 5 star matches in the KOTR, a crusierweight advancing in KOTR? What is this? This is allowed???

Backstage, Jenna Kyle is prepping for a photoshoot when Nathan Quinn creeps up behind her. Quinn muses how nice it must be for Jenna to be surrounded by so much glitz and glamour. Is this why she turned down his offer to take her under his wing? She could've had all that and even more but she just had to be a stubborn idiot about things. Jenna asks if there's anything he actually needs because she has a good mind to slap the taste of his mouth right now. Well since Jenna asks, Quinn is actually quite open to showing her what she shot down by offering a match against Leah on Raw. Jenna accepts and tells him to beat it. Quinn warns that this shoot might be her last one for a while if Leah has her way.

I suspect that match will bring the snowflakes. JUST A HUNCH. Jenna Kyle = ratings and erections

Fourth Match: King of the Ring First Round - Shawn Dangerson vs. Chris Collins Man, I've done nothing with Collins these last few weeks. Let's remedy that, shall we? Dangerson is game here tonight as this is quite the opportunity presented to him. He may be too much game as Collins has to resort to the old missing turnbuckle trick to score a cheap win and advance to the second round. ****1/2, 93% overall.

Dammit, for the NCAA Tourney I always do a real bracket and a Bizarro World bracket. I'd have had Dangerson make a deep run in the Bizarro World bracket just for his awesome name.

Fifth Match: Tania vs. Emma Edwards Billie Padgett is at ringside as she has Emma's back. This is mainly a means to continue the feud between Tania and Padgett. Padgett accidentally nails Emma with a clothesline intended for Tania and that leads to Tania hitting the Nose Dive for the pin. The heels show their support by laying her out afterward. *****, 96% overall.

Emma is another name where I automatically assume hotness. Can't imagine why.

MAIN EVENT: Noah Carmichael and Kerry Cemenko vs. Quentin McDaniels and WWE Unified World Champion Butch Fleming The heels just can't get on the same page here at all as they keep blind tagging each other in an attempt to alpha male the other. The end comes after a "Katy, bar the door" scenario and Fleming baits Carmichael into using one of the championship belts but Carmichael hits McDaniels accidentally when Fleming moves out of the way for the DQ. We get a brawl to close the show. *****, 95% overall.

Fleming and McDaniels continuing to be forced to team despite constantly agitating each other, I like the blind tags - it's a good way to paint the lack of cohesion.

[M-A-G]

The thing with Martyn LaSalle is that I picture him in the same vein as guys like Eddie Guerrero and AJ Styles and Shawn Michaels where, yes, they're small and easily tossed around, it's not beyond the realm of possibility where they can hang with a larger opponent because of craftiness and mat work. I've had guys start out working the cruiserweight ranks and winning that belt but also moving on to become World Champion so LaSalle is someone I'm a fan off and will keep in the back of my mind as someone who I can easily move to the top when the time comes.

That being said, Shawn Dangerson is another dude who deserves more of a break. If I can't push him right now in a cruiserweight feud, maybe slapping him together with someone to work against a heel team might be enough for now. He needs a manager, though. I'm looking at you, Sophie Waters!!!

WWE's Emma was, is, and always will be a cuddly little wombat. My Emma is pretty much the opposite as she's a brute along with Billie Padgett. When they debuted, it was as a trio known as the Brooklyn Sisterhood, basically a bunch of street hoodlums and they went on a tear, having memorable encounters with probably my favorite collection of women workers, Riott, Sophie Waters, and even Lisa Benton back when she was an active competitor. I wish I had been around the forums around that time to post all of their lovely goodness because their work overshadowed a lot of what the men were doing. If I do a tag team title for the women, I'm glad to still have Emma and Billie to help prop it up.