WZCW Show Reviews

[Dave]

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[Infinity]

Meltdown 158

A New Champion Has Appeared!
Very appropriate way to kick off the new cycle. We ended last cycle with Titus defeating King Mussel in the Main Event of "Gold Rush '19" to win the WZCW World Championship. The graphic and phrase "A New Challenger Appears!" has always been a staple for Titus, and having this new graphic replacing the word "Challenger" with "Champion" was awesome. Titus comes out to address the crowd & gives a quick concise promo establishing himself as the new face of the World Title.

Garth Black & Zhanshi vs Flex Mussel & Keith Kole
Flex vs Zhanshi could be a lot of fun, but Flex does the typical Flex thing and tags out before ever attempting to hit Zhanshi. Ultimately it's a miscue on the part of FlexAmerica that leads to the loss. Keith Kole accidentally super kick's Flex in the the face allowing Garth to hit the Black Out on Kole for the pinfall. Off round for KWeb with the no show, but let's hope he bounces back this round like I know he's capable of. Dynamite put forth a strong showing, maybe the best RP of the match but, although never being a part of creative, I'd imagine it's tough overcoming a no show in a tag match. FlexAmerica had a pretty rough cycle leading to Mussel's loss to Titus @ "Gold Rush," and the unfortunate slide continues into this next cycle. The next couple of rounds will surely prove to be pivotal for the group. One has to wonder when Flex's patience with Keith will run out if the losing continues. He needs somebody to blame besides himself, right?

The EurCallie Era
Callie Clark is backstage to cut a promo about the Triple Threat Main Event to crown a new #1 contender to Garth Black's EurAsian Championship. All she has to do is defeat Stetson Hayes & Xander to get 1 step closer to the start of a new era... the EurCallie Era.

The King & Vega
King Mussel is backstage still feeling the effects of Keith Kole's inadvertent super kick when Vega enters the scene. Flex questions why Vega is on Meltdown while insulting his tag team partner for Ascension; Mikey Stormrage. Vega defends Mikey. Flex stands up, towering over Vega as the two trade insults. Flex questions Vega's latest run in WZCW, going as far as saying Mikey's Stormrage's last diet was more succesful than Vega's run. Ouch. Vega brushes the comment off, referencing his attempts at growth as of late. Stellar dialogue here by whoever wrote this segment... I believe it was Echelon. Let's see if these two cross paths again this cycle...

Titus vs "Baby Doll" Alice Adams
An interesting RP battle here led to an interesting match for the World Champ's first action since winning the strap. Titus in no way dominated this match, and Alice's emotions during the match properly conveyed her understanding of the opportunity at hand. Her frustration after near falls, anger with the ref... nice touches by Yaz, you rock. It all comes to an end when "Baby Doll," after escaping from the Ankle Lock is suddenly pinned jacknife style. She kicks out a moment after the 3 count. For Titus' first match as World Champion to not be a clean victory should actually say a lot about the RP battle itself. Head high, Sawa... the talent is very evident in your writing.

Gloomy Matt
Matt Tastic is sitting in a dark & gloomy room staring at the Mayhem Championship he defeated Mikey Stormrage for @ "Gold Rush." The announcers mention he will be teaming with Annie Halloway on Ascension to take on the aforementioned team of Stormrage & Vega. They wonder what Tastic will do to Mikey next.

Bleacher Creature Xander
Cut to another cheery guy... Xander, sitting on a bleacher. He mentions losing in the finals of the Gold Rush Tournament and talks about how he never stays down, and always scratches and claws for wins. He doesn't mention the main event he's in tonight.

Meltdown 1
A graphic airs announcing Meltdown 1 is coming to the WZCW Network. I wonder if that means creative will actually start posting Meltdown episodes somewhere in order... that would actually be kinda cool. Sidebar; how lame is the WZCW Network for not already having MD 1 available!? What am I paying $9.99/month for guys? Let's get with the program.

Main Event: Callie Clark vs Xander vs Stetson Hayes - EurAsian Title #1 Contenders Match
Callie pays homage to the new Mortal Kombat game coming out by cosplaying as Johnny-I mean Cassie Cage. After Xander makes his entrance, Stetson Hayes walks down to the ring while cutting what has quickly become a classic Stetson style promo. He's as linguistically vicious as he can be obnoxious and it's an amazingly dislikable character Spidey has unleashed on the fed. KJ did a nice job early on reminding us that all 3 competitors in the match aren't exactly fan favorites, all gaining boos from the crowd at different points. At some point in the match, Stetson Hayes tees off on Callie Clark with a chair. The ref takes it away, although it's legal in triple threat rules. There are some really great moments with all 3 characters involved that lead to Xander getting caught in the Texas Clover Leaf dead center in the ring. Callie breaks it up with a desperation Spiral Tap... then I'm not sure what exactly happens. Callie "pops" Stetson Hayes' hand...

She milks the crowd as she holds on to the hand and pops Hayes' hand. He screams in agony has Callie yells at him.

...whatever that means. It leads to Stetson rolling out of the ring and having his hand checked while Callie is eventually caught in Xander's Fade Away submission. Callie passes out and the ref calls for the bell. A great match that screeched to an awkward ending in my opinion. A better description of what "popping" Hayes' hand means would have benefited the finish greatly. Either way, a big win for Xander as he ends Meltdown as the new #1 Contender for Garth Black and the EurAsian Championship.

Ascension 135

Mayhem No More
After a video package recapping aspects of "Gold Rush '19," the new WZCW Mayhem Champion walks out to a chorus of boos so bad it delays the start of his promo. Eventually, Matt announces that as the record holding 5x Mayhem Champion, he is officially retiring the title once again. Having taken the Mayhem Championship from Mikey Stormrage and rendering it defunct, Tastic continues to focus on Mikey, this time taking aim at the Elite Championship. Tastic's dastardly desire to strip Mikey of everything he holds important is a wicked manner to continue this saga.

Vee A.D.Z. has evolved to... Vlad Azarov!
This is the return/debut of Vlad Azarov, a new character evolution of the man formally known as Vee A.D.Z. Poor Stevie Broon didn't even get an entrance this round. That's never a good sign. Vlad Azarov looks amazing in his debut as he demolishes Broon from the start. In a quick squash, Azarov gets the forfeit finish after a grounded barrage of forearms to the face, fueled by an apparent reaction to Stevie's blood. Interesting. Welcome back, Prince Vee... glad to see you return. But as happy as I am for Vee's return, I am just as sad to see Dave's departure. Stevie Broon never really seemed to take off, but your run with John Constantine is the stuff of legends. God Speed, Dave. Hope to see you around.

Dude, Where's My Vespa?
In my RP this round, I had Vega invite Mikey Stormrage to go for a run in the park. Mikey, not being one to partake in cardiovascular activity, decided to rent a Vespa to accompany Vega on his run instead. Yaz then took over in his RP and ended things with Mikey & Vega out on the town singing karaoke. We fine Mikey at Ascension looking around for Vega, who arrives on the scene riding Mikey's Vespa. Vega explains he took the keys away from Mikey because he was drunk. Stormrage thanks Vega and asks for the Vespa back, but Vega refuses... admitting that he actually likes it before riding off the scene, leaving Mikey in the dust.

Garth Black - The New World Champion?
Cut to another area backstage where Leon Kensworth is standing with the new WZCW EurAsian Champion, Garth Black. Garth defeated Stetson Hayes in at "Gold Rush '19" to win the vacant EurAsian Championship. As a reminder, John Constantine defeated Titus in the Main Event of Kingdom Come IX to become the WZCW EurAsian Championship in his final match. The title was vacated when he retired on the following Meltdown. There are some big shoes to fill for the next champion, and I have zero doubt that Garth Black can fill them. He calls out first challenger for his newly won title, Xander, who earned the right to face him by defeating Stetson Hayes & Callie Clark @ Meltdown. He claims that to him, the EurAsian Championship is essentially the World Championship, and acknowledges that Xander doesn't feel the same way. Garth vows that this line of thinking will be Xander's downfall.

Dirk Buchanan vs Kagura
After an impressive first two rounds for Dirk, he falls flat here on Ascension. He was victorious in his debut, and although he came up short against Mikey Stormrage at "Gold Rush," being the man to answer Stormrage's open challenge is nothing to sneeze at. A no show here lead to easy work for Ech. I hope his handler, Atilla, sticks around. Looks like he had some promise. Easy win for Kagura, who is the #1 Contender for the World Championship after defeating Xander in the finals of the 2019 Gold Rush Tournament.

Meltdown 1
Another promo for Meltdown 1 coming to the WZCW Newtork. Again... I'm intrigued. I wonder...

Vega Meets Annie
We cut backstage to Stacey Madison standing with Annie Halloway. Annie standing there looking disinterested while talking about how her win over Titus before "Gold Rush" should make her #1 contender to his World Title, not Kagura. Her interview is inadvertently interrupted when Vega zooms on by on Mikey's Vespa. Annie leaves the interview area to approach Vega and the Vespa he just scratched against the wall. Annie exalts her own skills as a computer hacker before revealing to Vega that she wasn't able to find a single piece of evidence that Vega ever existed before WZCW. Vega points out how both have lived lives of crime... but where Annie's crimes have gained her noteriety, Vega's means he never existed to the world. Halloway scoffs Vega's words off by claiming she was meant for the spotlight. Vega admits that she has skills, and could have used her back when he lived a life of crime. He wishes her good luck in the main event later tonight. Annie however, while hiding the fact that she's impressed and happy to be complimented by a master criminal like Vega, refuses his handshake before walking away, leaving Vega hanging.

Main Event: Mikey Stormrage & Vega vs Matt Tastic & Annie Halloway
Matt Tastic starts things off by shoving his own tag team partner to the side and attacking Stormrage immediately. He fights off Vega and pushes the referee away as Annie just watches. Eventually, he sits on the corner and watches as Mikey is down. Then, in the most heelish move of the round, just as Stormrage gets to his feet and runs towards him, Tastic tags in Annie Halloway and calmly exits the ring completely. What a dick! Great way to start the match, Lee. Vega tags in to calm Mikey down and finally some wrestling starts. Soon, Tastic tags himself in to literally show Annie how it's done before before tagging Annie back in so she can do it better. At some point in the match, Tastic takes Stormrage out just as Vega is going to tag out. It leads to a brawl on the outside between Tastic and Stormrage while Vega & Annie continue to fight on the inside. Eventually, the outside brawl ends and both Annie & Vega tag out, leading to Mikey finally unleashing on Tastic inside the ring. After just nearly escaping the Live Mas Slam, Matt Tastic tags in Annie and high tails it out of the ring. Mikey, not wanting to let Matt escape, tags in Vega and chases after his former best friend. Vega & Annie meet once again as a brawl ensues between the duo formerly known as Live Mas on the outside. After Vega kicks out of one of Annie's signature moves, the two exchange a couple of reversals before Vega nails his Target Locked Swinging STO followed by the Dragon Slayer, which makes Annie pass out. Vega celebrates in the ring as he watches Mikey Stormrage and Matt Tastic continue to battle it out on the outside. Dozens of security guards attempt to break up the fight as Ascension comes to an end. Great job, Lee. Ace stuff.

Overall Thoughts
I noticed a big improvement in backstage segments this round on both Meltdown and Ascension. It's a much welcomed improvement which I think will do wonders for character evolving and storyline progression. Along with the usual solid match writing, this new attention to detail is astounding and I'd like to thank the memebers of creative for their efforts. I hope to see it continue throughout this cycle and forward. I also want to take this opportunity to encourage other members of the fed not in creative to reach out to creative as well as each other with ideas for segments yourselves. I pitched 2 ideas to Yaz this round for backstage segments... one with him and the other with Annie Halloway. Both were approved, and they aired on Ascension. Don't be afraid to reach out to each other. I think there are a lot of great ideas waiting to make their way onto a WZCW show.

With 1 round down, it seems like we may have 3 matches already lined up for the next PPV, which I believe is "Unscripted." We already knew the Main Event would be Titus vs Kagura for the World Title. Now after Xander's win on Meltdown we've got Garth Black vs Xander for the EurAsian Championship. And, at the risk of being a bit presumptious, I believe we will also have Tastic vs Stormrage for the Elite Championship. 3 stellar match ups that already set "Unscripted" up beautifully.

I'm personally very interested in seeing what's next for "Baby Doll" Alice Adams as well as Annie Halloway. I think this cycle could be pivotal to both characters in their early tenures here in the company. Speaking of early tenures... Vlad Azarov, welcome. Vee, you sound rejuvenated and remotivated... and I seriously welcome your eagerness back to the fed. I'm seriously looking forward to what you can do with this new character evolution. I kinda wanna see Zhanshi vs Azarov, but that's just me. Still some big names lacking direction with both Callie Clark & Stetson Hayes losing their shot at the EurAsian Championship. Do they blame each other?

And what about FlexAmerica? They suffer yet another setback this round. Will Flex remember his little run in with Vega backstage while licking his wounds? Speaking of Vega, he (or I), picked up a pinfall in the Main Event of Ascension, a nice little boost in a slightly stalled run for my character. Hopefully I can put a couple of solid rounds together this cycle. Did Vega & Stormrage just becomes friends? Will Annie hold a grudge for the loss? And does Vega have to look over his shoulder for Flex & Keith Kole now?

This was an outstanding start to the round. Thank you to all members of creative, especially KJ for taking helm of things and seemingly putting a new emphasis on segments and character development. Love, love, love it. I also want to take this opportunity to thank SlyFox, KB & SteelCage Forums for welcoming us to their, and our new, home.

Goodbye, Falk
Last but not least.... it'd be criminal for me to go an entire review without mentioning the retirement of Eve Taylor. She suffered a loss to Callie Clark in her final match ever to Callie Clark @ "Gold Rush." If I had to name a Mount Rushmore of talent in WZCW... Eve Taylor would make my mountain. I wasn't around for the likes of Everest. My golden era was the time of people like Showtime and Barbosa, Celeste and Holmes, and up there with those names was Eve Taylor. For me to be away from the fed for so long and come back to see Eve Taylor still be one of the most relevant names in the promotion spoke volumes. Eve Taylor is and always will be a WZCW legend... and Falkon's writing ability is and always will be legendary. Thank you for all the time, effort, and emotion you put into every match and RP you wrote. We'll miss having you around.

Goodbye, Falk.