Hot Shot Wrestling

[ZJ Penn]

“I want a wrestling promotion…”

Those were the ever profound words of Hot Shot Wrestling owner, and my boss (and also employee…not as complicated as you’d think), Johnny Knight. It’s unlikely you’ve heard of him, although he is actually a terrific wrestler. He worked the Indies back in the day, and even got a couple of jobs in for the big two. Unfortunately that’s as far as it went and he faded into obscurity for years. He now plans a comeback, at the ripe young age of 36, with Hot Shot Wrestling. Basically, he thinks he never got the deserved breaks he should have at the top level, so he’s going to create those breaks for himself. By hard work and perseverance I hear you ask? No. By taking out a loan and starting his own promotion, this would be your answer. Truth be told, he’s not a bad guy, just been hit with the ego stick a couple of times. This is where I come in. To avoid self-booking, and the fact that when someone tells him to check the books he thinks library, he hired me to run and book the company for him. Well, as much as a backyard federation needs running anyway.

So, time to bore you with the basics I guess. We are, essentially, a backyard federation. We’ve got no money of our own, are complete unknowns in terms of brand name, can’t afford merchandising and have only 1% advertising. Our production values are slightly better at 5%, although that’s paltry compared to our nearest competitors, World League Wrestling; they have a commendable 35%. Best of all, our best and so far only performer, is a 36 year old British all rounder, who although maybe a great athlete now, gets more broken down by the day. Still, you suck it all up and move on don’t you? Our first challenge was to try and secure some sort of financial package after deciding not to charge for our monthly events held in the local park outside the promotion owners’ house. After minutes of discussion, we were able to secure four sponsorships from some online based local companies. They agreed to pay us a total of $21,000 a month for pushing their business on each side of our ring. A nice tidy sum for this time in the businesses life, but we would most definitely need more as time went on. One thing came from it though; we were able to be a bit more risky after having these no-moral companies on our side, although I doubt we’ll take much advantage of that.

With monetary concerns less of a worry for us, we decided to install Microsoft Sophie© on our computer, to see what Bill Gates new booking wizard had for us…

“…at least five more workers…” – I’ll get to that soon

“…we need a referee for our matches…” – And as if by magic, 29 year old Bruno LeClerc appears, our only staff expenditure for the foreseeable future. Prick charges $8,000 a month. What a bastard, that’s more than I plan on spending on wrestlers.

“…we should hire a writer…” - No

“…we should hire someone to handle production…” - No

“…we should hire a medic…” - No

“…we should hire some road agents…” – And surprisingly, no

To my knowledge, nearly everything was sorted out now, barring the hiring of the actual talent. I decided to go one better than our booking wizard suggested, and brought in six workers to join Knight on the roster. First of all…

…we have Johnny Knight. The main man as far as Hot Shot Wrestling goes; Knight is the guy the others will look for to lead the promotion forward, with his near sterling charisma and ability. While by no means a Chris Benoit technically, or a Hulk Hogan vocally, he’s by far ‘the shit’ in HSW. His Fireman’s-Carry-Drop-Into-Face-Buster may be the most pompously titled finishing move in wrestling, known as the Starlight. However, he does have the Triangle Choke in his arsenal too if that sinks like a cannonball. Needs to get the promotion on the right foot before age begins to take its toll on him. He’s also the joint most over worker on the roster at 15%, and will portray the role of the classic old school face, with his Shawn Michaels like selling set to build some heels up too. Who wants to bet against him being the first HSW Champion?

As mentioned, our top spot in terms of overness is held by Johnny Knight, and this guy. His name prior to Hot Shot Wrestling? I forget. Jack something or other. In any event, he is barring Knight, the finest technical grappler this side of Johnny Knights Local Park. Allegedly immaculately behaved backstage, and a great seller of moves too, he could be set to make waves in HSW, as we give him the role of number one heel, given the fact number one face is taken. After holding out hope for some sort of shoot fighting experience to be revealed, we decided that we would regardless make him out to be the real deal, a legit athlete. Hence he was handed the first pun on the roster, as he became…Matt Wrestler.

You know what they say, one good turn deserves another, and we decided to hand out pun names like it was Christmas. This time it was the turn of our resident high flying spot monkey face…Hugh Lose. Some say that’s a very flat, one-dimensional character and gimmick to give a promising young talent. To which I curse venomously. Anyhow, he’s going to be our daredevil, with his completely original Frog Splash finisher and minimal brawling/technical skill. His dead fox charisma should be interesting too. He’s actually first of two black wrestlers on the roster, just in case you were going to accuse HSW of racism.

Three of seven workers there and for the fourth I’ll choose another heel. This time it’s the turn of the big man in the promotion, a guy who used to go by the name of Luther, now goes by the name of Doberman. One of the two workers on the roster who could be seen as genuinely menacing aside from Knight, he stands at 6’8” and his attire includes some craggy jeans, and a scraggy old brown flannel shirt. To top it off he also wears a mask. Think Abyss meets Mankind meets a gimp. He’s clearly going to be our savage monster heel, with his mediocre brawling skills and look. Although it isn’t that often you see a black man playing the masked monster role. Unfortunately, he’s not over, can’t wrestle any other style, can’t sell, has no charisma and not a particularly good backstage attitude. Hence we brought in…

…Lutricia to be his on-screen manager so to speak. Like Hugh and Doberman, she’s less over than Ken Patera is with an eight year old. So obviously overness is something I’ll have to address. The woman has no wrestling skills for sure, but can make it up in other areas. Her charisma for example, is second only to Knight, and that’s what we brought her in for after all. Then there’s the fact she’ll work for only $1,000 a show, and is quite hot, especially when compared to a scrawny spot junkie and a man in a gimp mask. Hopefully her and her Goth gimmick will be enough to get her and Doberman over quick smart.

I make that five of seven covered, so pen-ultimately, it’s our final face, and the other ‘menacing’ character. He used to have some weird name that I thought about keeping, but dropped in favour of Mastodon. He’s the definition of the words ‘all-rounder’. While this you’d think would make him hot property, he has pretty poor charisma that is likely to make him the perennial jobber to the “stars”. Little and stout, his monster gimmick will make his Running Powerslam one to be feared for sure…obviously.

Finally, we get to the last member of HSW’s ‘Magnificent Seven’. I also couldn’t resist shoving a last pun in there either, so say hello to the fourth heel on the roster, Doug L. Entendre. The man of a million sexual innuendos, never will a worker rely on his charisma as much as this man again…

On a side note, everyone on the roster works for $5,000 or less per showing. Who hates Bruno LeClerc? I hate Bruno LeClerc.

So that’s the roster, could it finally be time for our first ever show? It is! Hot Shot Wrestling presents live on Sunday 25th February, “Too Hot to Handle!” Our debut show! Free tickets too...

Edited April 17, 2007 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

General News

(Monthly Updates On My Game World)

- Throughout the month there were the usual things in the wrestling world. WWE cut loads of staff and workers being the major one, as Dean Malenko, Danny Davis, Ricky Steamboat and Ron Simmons all got the chop. Damn!

- My nearest rivals, WLW also made news of their own, as they released their biggest star, the ‘legendary’ Rick Steiner for probable monetary reasons. Making their biggest star on the roster Ace Steel. Pfft, he’s good, but no Johnny Knight.

- Furthermore, WWE then sacked their entire development talent. Harry Smith, TJ Wilson and all the Spirit Squad that aren’t the good one have now gone. A day later and it was the turn of the veterans, as Roddy Piper, Jim Duggan, Jerry Lawler, Al Snow and the mighty Jazz all left the roster. I wonder if Piper would be interested in a slot on our first show now his schedules a lot lighter. Answer? No. “Your promotion is not big enough for him”.

- Even the most famous of all time wasn’t safe from McMahon’s axe, as Daniel Rodimer.....I mean Hulk Hogan, had his ties with the company severed. He was followed soon by Steve Austin, MVP and most surprisingly of all, The Great Khali. The mans got talent, lets face it. I’ll even make a promise. As soon as $27,000 becomes our ticket sales and not what Lutricia makes in two and half years of work, I’ll bring him to the people dammit. Because 21% brawling is what they want, clearly.

- Joseph Miglianico takes over CWF-MA. I’ll admit, I nearly fell off my seat with the sheer importance of this earth-shattering announcement. Maybe this should be made a bank holiday?

- WWE then fire some more, even Kenny, Burchill and Gangrel get sacked along with aerial dynamo CW Anderson. Also on this day, ECCW fell to a small promotion, presumably on the grounds that their biggest star is the Honky Tonk Man.

- Another bolt from the blue now, as Wrestling Society X is taken over by Jacques Rougeau Jr shock horror, who then proceeds to sack all the good wrestlers and sign some shit ones. Nice move.

- In the third takeover in 17 days and potentially the strangest, Jim Crockett becomes the new owner of AAA. That’s right, the high flying Mexican promotion. He then signs Wendy Burger as their new sponsors, because the two naturally go together…

- Ha-ha! Some cracking news now, as World League Wrestling have their TV show, the aptly named WLW TV, dropped by the TV network. Some vital lessons here to be learned children; a) Never, ever drop Rick Steiner b) Don’t sign up for a TV network called “I” and c) Don’t be our nearest competitor! Because clearly just our presence in the market has been enough to force severe roster cuts, a TV show axing and mass takeovers.

...Vince is worried...

Edited April 17, 2007 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

The 25th finally rolled around, and more importantly, it happened without any incidents affecting our roster. Everyone attended meetings etc. on time and didn't argue, fight or badmouth each other. They're also drug free. One thing I did notice though was that our PI had risen to 3% from zero, even though we've done nothing. Maybe our tiny advertising values have garnered some acknowledgement from the locals. Or maybe it's to do with the boom expected from the markets 54% current state. It's all good though, and we decided to take it in our stride, and lay out the card for tonight's event…

Main Event: Matt Wrestler Vs Mastodon - The first ever main event features amazingly, no Johnny Knight who “doesn't want to be the top guy”

Hugh Lose Vs Doberman w/Lutricia - HSW's high flyer takes on its powerhouse. Will the styles clash and ruin the match? Probably...

Johnny Knight Vs Doug L. Entendre - Knight instead decides he'll be in the promotions first ever match, probably winning. First showing of an ego? Or just a bloody good bloke?

Dark Match: Mastodon Vs Hugh Lose - Time to test the ring before the spectators get there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRE-SHOW NOTE - WRITE-UPS WILL INCREASE IN LENGTH AS THE DIARY GOES ON, AS THE ROSTER COULD BECOME A ROTATING DOOR IN THE BEGINNING, SO I WANT TO KNOW WHO'S STAYING BEFORE NAILING ANY CHARACTERS DOWN.

“Too Hot to Handle!”

The fans show next to no sign of arriving early (if at all) to the show, so we get the dark match out of the way to see if our ring can hold up to the rigours of a pro wrestling event...

Mastodon d. Hugh Lose (Dark Match)

The young high flier pings around the ring for a couple of minutes to check its strength, before mounting a slight comeback with a Missile Dropkick and an Enziguri. Mastodon is too powerful though, and his hard hitting offence sees him nail a Spine Buster, a short clothesline and his patented Running Powerslam for three in a match of decent quality.

(35/8/62)*

Promo – Doug L. Entendre

HSW’s ‘man of a million innuendos’ is the first man to officially welcome the non-paying crowd of four to the show like only he can, in a decent enough promo. He tells them to get ready for him to ‘sneak up on the other superstars from behind’ and ‘pound them repeatedly like only he can’. This draws slight murmurs of laughter from the four guests, with Entendre acting as though he has no idea what they are laughing at. Before he can continue his gay barrage though, he’s joined in the ring by HSW’s main man…

(40%)

Johnny Knight d. Doug L. Entendre

Well, who’d have thought it? Knight beats Entendre in front page shocker. As expected, not much fan reaction, but a nice match quality makes it passable. A solid back-and-forth bout between the two encompassing all three styles, Entendre nearly grabs the upset with his aptly titled “Small Package” finisher, but Knight kicks out of the pin and gets the clean win with the Starlight on his disorientated opponent…as Bruno LeClerc counts the three to earn his $8,000. ().

(44/24/64)

Johnny Knight Promo

The victor of Hot Shot Wrestling’s first ever match remains in the ring post match to give a proper welcome to the four fans in attendance. Knight also tells them he hopes that there will be many more HSW events for the years to come and they should enjoy and savour the debut show, because it hopefully won’t be the last. This also happens to be by far the best promo of the night. Who’d have thought it?

(71%)

Hugh Lose Promo

Fresh off of his dark match loss to Mastodon, Lose hits the ring in preparation for his bout with the masked monster Doberman. Before his opponent can hit the ring though, Lose decides to run his mouth about how he is willing to showcase his ability to the extreme for the fans (miniscule pop), and take down Doberman in the process. He wraps up by telling Doberman that he realises there’s the size difference, but what he doesn’t realise is that…“when you take on Hugh Lose…you lose!!!” A particularly poor promo from Hugh, even by our backyard standards.

(23%)

Doberman w/Lutricia d. Hugh Lose

Hugh proceeds to make it two losses and an exceptionally bad promo all in one night, as he is pinned controversially by Doberman. While it started out as a squash in favour of the big man, who decimated Lose with a variety of stiff boots and slams. Hugh caught a break and fought back like he did against Mastodon, and again gave his chance away. The masked Doberman hit a low kick to the mid-section and looked for his “Human Nature”, AKA the Powerbomb. Hugh rolled through for a Sunset Flip mind, but Doberman countered by dropping to his knees and Lutricia held Hugh’s legs for the cheap win in possibly the best quality match of the night.

(38/11/65)

Lutricia cuts a promo for Doberman

With Doberman unable to utter anything coherent or interesting, Lutricia took the reigns. She ordered him to hit the Human Nature on Hugh Lose, and he obliged as she told the crowd that with her brains and Doberman’s brawn, not even the Knights, the Mastodons and certainly not the Hugh Loses would stand in the way of their march to the top of HSW, as Doberman snarls and looks menacing in the background…and we’re about done here.

(49%)

Matt Wrestler d. Mastodon via DQ

The main event is pretty much fitting for the pattern the shows matches have followed - very average. Today has been more about character establishment and alignment than wowing people. It sees power against technique, with Matt Wrestler using his…mat wrestling…to weaken Mastodon. Unable to lock in his Scissored Sleeper, he lets Mastodon back into the match and his power takes over. Wrestler is actually able to seal the victory though, as he slides out the back of a Running Powerslam and tries to nail him with a steel chair, but Mastodon grabs it and plants Matt with a shot instead. He tries to apologise to the referee by claiming that he didn’t bring the chair in but it's too late and he’s disqualified. With his back turned, he's ambushed by Wrestler with the steel chair and gets dropped with two or three straight shots across the back. Matt begins to stalk him, looking for the world feared Bridging Back Suplex no doubt, until he's run off by...

(42/19/66)

Promo - Johnny Knight

...Johnny Knight, the great all rounder himself. He helps Mastodon to his feet, before laying a verbal beating on the “coward” Matt Wrestler to end the show.

(59%)

Best Match - Knight Vs Entendre (Apparently they didn’t click though? Everything else must have sucked the big one)

Best Promo - Knight welcomes crowd

Worst Match - Mastodon beats Hugh Lose (Dark Match)

Worst Promo - Hugh Lose hypes his match

Attendance - 4 people

Overall Comments: A good start at 46% overall considering what we’ve begun with in terms of resources that stands us in good stead for a decent second show. Overness will be on the increase, and hopefully PI too. On the downside, I don’t want to use Johnny Knight in more than two segments a show, a limit I put on most workers, but I might have to bend the rules in this instance.

*NB: Stars will be awarded to our matches at our second event.

Someone forgot to change it to the Dames as reviewers...

Edited April 17, 2007 by wilson316

[rockyoursox]

I like the way this has started. I especially dug the snarky news comments before the first show - you have a good sense of humor. The characters that you've created are interesting, and I'm intrigued to see some of them develop once you figure out who's gonna be stick around, and who's on their way out the door. Overall, definitely a good start. Can't wait to see some more interaction between Knight and the booker - it reminds me of Golden Boy Wrestling, which is nothing but a good thing.

[ZJ Penn]

General News

- Post event, there were one or two small revelations, as Matt Wrestler confronted me backstage, demanding to be moved up the card. At a time in HSW’s life when card positions mean about as much as a Hugh Lose defeat, I thought I’d agree just to keep him happy. In further Hugh Lose news, Mastodon was another worker who I talked to backstage. He told me that he ‘hates wrestling that punk, how about a match against Doug L. Entendre?’ I told him I’d see what I could do. Technically, I could make that next month’s main event, but it’s got opener written all over it…if that. In news outside of HSW, NWA- Pro Wrestling Express has dropped down to small level. We’re taking over, it’s just a matter of time I tells ya.

- Prior to the month ending, we decided to review our situation. We didn't have time to arrange for a meeting with Johnny, so only discussed a few things over the phone. Next month we should be able to get together. We noticed that since our public image had now doubled to 6%, we might be able to get a bit of exclusivity to our show through a couple of written contracts. Obviously Johnny Knight didn’t need one; fantastic news considering his overness with the local crowd has now nearly doubled at 26 points. In less fantastic news, we got a flat refusal from Matt Wrestler, who is quickly becoming the biggest bitch on the roster. His reaching 23 in overness now means he wants to move on already, although I might rush forward my few booking plans that I have to try and change that. Other than that though, everyone else agreed to a written deal. The shortest being Hugh Lose and Mastodon signing for 6 months, while some of the others went the whole whack and committed themselves for two years. Fools. On a side note, outside of Wrestler and Knight, our most over guy is Doug L. Entendre, up 7 points to 17. Whereas our least over is Dobermans female manager Lutricia, she received only a 2 point increase to 6%.

- Straight into March now with no delays, and we started with a little backstage birthday party for Lutricia, whose now 19. My gift to her was a promise not to job her out to Johnny Knight till at least next month…and that’s only because her in-ring skills are so bad it would do more harm than good. In only slightly more important news, TNA finally launched their two hour iMPACT on Spike this week. There were also the retirements announced by Dos Caras, Esther Moreno, Halcon Negro and most importantly, Dory Funk Jr. There was a further decline in the lesser known promotions this month, as many had to cancel shows and release staff and talent, whilst Chaotic Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling and the International Wrestling Syndicate all joined many others in the ‘small’ league. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, as publicly criticised MTV promotion Wrestling Society X has proved all its doubters wrong and risen up to a nationally recognised promotion in no time at all. One of the aforementioned released staff, just so happened to be a little known referee called Johnny Guy. At 18, he was as green as anyone in the ring, but was willing to go for a verbal 24 month contract at just $1,000 a month! For those who can’t be arsed to work it out, that’s an eighth of what Bruno LeClerc was charging, and to make things even sweeter, he’s more talented than 29 year old Bruno. Later LeClerc, do let the door hit you on the way out. That pretty much made my week right there, given our financial situation…$53,000 in the red. Only half of that is from worker costs exceeding the budget, the rest is advertising, LeClerc and his monstrous wage, and production. Needless to say we dropped the advertising campaign quick smart. Anyhoo, it was quickly the 25th of March, and onto our second ever show, “Feel the Heat!” Obviously it would be enjoy a modicum of success, at least that’s what I told Knight, but the real question was what people wanted to do? Stand in the freezing cold watching unknowns try and wrestle? Or stay at home and watch WrestleMania XXIII? We shall see…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Main Event: Johnny Knight Vs Matt Wrestler – After HSW’s finest ran off Wrestler at the end of “Too Hot to Handle”, there was only ever going to be one outcome. A match between the companies’s best.

Doberman w/Lutricia Vs Mastodon – Powerhouse takes on powerhouse in this showcase. However Doberman has his female ally on his side…

Hugh Lose Vs Doug L. Entendre – With three losses between them, surely its time for a first win for somebody?

Dark Match: Mastodon Vs Doug L. Entendre – Mastodon asked for it, and now he’s going to get it. In a dark match, naturally…

Edited April 17, 2007 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

Hot Shot Wrestling Presents: “Feel the Heat!”

As per usual, we get there early to set up etc. and Mastodon gets the chance to prove to me and Knight that he does have some ring chemistry, in a requested dark match with Doug L. Entendre…

Mastodon Vs Doug L. Entendre (Dark Match)

…which he loses! That’s what happens to people who ask for matches round here. Mastodon dominates this 1/2* match for the majority, with a variety of suplexes, slams and clotheslines. But in the end, it’s a sneaky flip out of a vertical suplex with a roll-up and tights handful for the cheap pin. Decent if unspectacular bout, although their styles did mesh quite well compared to the stout powerful Mastodon and high flying Hugh Lose. Post match sees Entendre run from the ring and wait for Mastodon to head to the back. Doug stays though…

(45, 21, 69)

Doug L. Entendre Promo

…to cut the opening promo of the show for the second month running. Entendre capitalises off of his overness boom, by tossing in some more ‘phrases’ into this one. He tells his opponent Hugh Lose that, “…the only thing he need worry about is the stiff blows he’s going to receive, as I’ll do anything to get him to go down for at least three seconds…” Ooo-er indeed, that’s risk 80% for you.

(51% - An 11% increase, I’ll take that)

Hugh Lose Vs Doug L. Entendre

It’s the bout between two of our superstars who are still winless excluding dark matches, sharing three losses in a month between them. Surely we have to now have a winner? Wrong. Both men are counted out after they erupt into a brawl on the outside and keep preventing one another from getting back in the ring. The match is a clash of styles as we’ve seen so often in HSW, with Loses high risk moves and Entendres general lack of moves slowing the match’s momentum, making it a DUD. Lose tried to get the crowd of five to join in a chant of “Fight Hugh Lose… Then You Lose!!!”, but they weren’t having it. Anymore poor showing of his charisma, and Hugh Lose might lose overness, and in turn…his job.

(38, 20, 56)

Johnny Knight Promo

Knight’s unparalleled charisma in the world of backyard wrestling means that he’s responsible for hyping his first main event to a respectable level of interest. The usual, ‘you ran from me you coward, time to stand and fight’ scenario is played out to our second best promo ever, although it was a disappointment compared to last months. 

(65%)

Mastodon Promo

From promo of the night, to promo of shite now, as Mastodon returns from his dark match defeat to try and get some heat back by bringing up how Matt Wrestler cheated to win last month and how he expects Doberman to do the same in their match. Except this time, he’ll be ready for him. Lots of hesitation and wavering in a disappointing promo.

(30%)

Mastodon Vs Doberman w/Lutricia

It’s the same old story for Mastodon tonight though, despite his frankly riveting build-up, as Doberman gets the pin to make him the most successful HSW competitor for the time being at least. Both men are able to hold their own, although Doberman has the strength advantage. Mastodon battles back this time, yet just before he can hit the Running Powerslam, he’s distracted by Lutricia on the apron, and by the time he turns back around Doberman has recovered and nails a kick to the mid-section and the Human Nature Powerbomb! Three counts inevitable. The terrible twosome continues the beat down on a deflated Mastodon, until Johnny Guy can intervene and get him out of the ring. DUD by the way…

(40, 16, 65)

Lutricia Promo for Doberman

As like last week, the victorious duo remain in the ring and that sultry young Goth brags about her instrument of destruction and how he is going to take over the industry. And just like last week Doberman stands around grunting in the background because he’s the brawn in the team, obviously.

(54%, awesome for this early stage)

Main Event: Johnny Knight Vs Matt Wrestler

It’s time to bust out the Blue Nun in Hot Shot Wrestling, as we’ve just cracked off our first *1/2 match. By our standards it’s a wrestling clinic here, and also a match that the fans got a little bit interested in, given that it’s the first one with even a hint of a feud. Knights the shining knight of HSW (pun intended, as always)…Wrestler cheats like a dog to win…Knight challenges him…Wrestler runs away to delay the match by a month. The simplest of simple build right there. Some nice technical wrestling almost sees Wrestler come out on a couple of occasions and even nearly lock on the Scissored Sleeper. Instead Johnny counters with some hard elbows and Samoan Drop followed by a backwards roll into the Triangle Choke! Matt taps and we have a clean winner. Post match sees Knight give Matt his just desserts by tossing him to the outside before working the ‘crowd’.

(56, 34, 79)

Promo – Johnny Knight

The show is closed with a shocking announcement that is only fit to follow our best ever match…

Knight – “Well, after beating that so called mat wrestler at his own game, I think there’s no doubt about who is the man in this here company. However, as I am sure you’ll agree, something is missing…a title belt! So what I’m proposing is this. Everyone on the roster takes part in randomly drawn quarter finals next month, with the semis and resulting final the month after. What are we battling for I hear you ask? The Hot Shot Championship of course! I’ll see y’all next month!” (Slight cheers)

(65%)

Best Match –Johnny Knight defeats Matt Wrestler

Best Promo – Johnny Knight hypes main event/announces title tourney

Worst Match – Hugh Lose and Doug L. Entendre draw in a double count out

Worst Promo – Mastodon kills his heat by trying to hype his match. Twat.

Attendance – 5 People

Overall Comments: A four point increase at 50% overall show rating from last month, which is a steady rise. These last two months have served for overness building and feet finding more than anything though, the real interest should start next month with the title tourney.

[ZJ Penn]

With April almost upon us, just some post show feedback for y’all, as well as any titbits from the final few days of March. A complaint this time coming from Matt Wrestler, surprise surprise. He believes that he didn’t have any chemistry with Johnny Knight, by far our best wrestler and a “great all-rounder” to boot. In other words, Matt Wrestler’s a bitch. In other news, now Doberman’s overness is in double figures, he wants to be involved with the upper midcard, and Doug L. Entendre wants in on it too, now that he’s our joint second-most over guy. While Entendre presents a good case for promotion, Doberman not so much…yet. Hence, Doug joins Matt Wrestler in the ranks of the upper midcard. It also turns out that Mastodon was right; he and Entendre do have great chemistry in the ring, something I’ll likely put to use in the future. Maybe I’ve been a bit too harsh on old’ Mastodon. Outside of the company and its WXW who are the latest promotion in recent times to drop to small level. Owned by Afa the Wild Samoan and their biggest star being Samu, they could probably do with some more investment if they are to survive.

I’ll go straight into April now, and Johnny Knight points out his investments financial status; $69,000 in the red. While this seems bad after two months, I should point out that losses have decreased from $53,000 to just $16,000, so it’s not too worrying as long as PI continues to increase. And PI is rising, with our aim being to be in double figures by the end of the month. Some TV news now, as WWE seemed to have turned their ECW brand around so much that their TV show, ‘ECW on Sci-Fi’ has been promoted to a prime time two hour show. Ring of Honor and AAA have also been granted new deals on Thursday and Tuesday respectively. ROH Thursdays will air on, oddly, the Sci-Fi channel in the graveyard slot whilst AAA’s new show will accompany Lucha De Vuelta, except on the TVA network in the graveyard slot. IWC also had ‘Ignition’ renewed for twenty weeks. Although not all TV shows had it so well, as JAPW’s “World Wide” program was dropped by its Local Network after consistently poor ratings, as was floundering WXW’s Rage TV. Some more workers set to join the retired list by the end of the month, Lemus 1, Octagon, Randy Cullen and Villano III the men this time. The aforementioned IWC’s month would go from good to great now, as they managed to rise to cult level, in the process signing Abyss, DDP, Paul Burchill and Psicosis all on open contracts. Not to mention Wrestling Observer main man Dave Meltzer agreeing to announce their renewed TV show for a few months.

In much less surprising news, WWE has had Monday Night RAW renewed for 30 further weeks. More interesting information…TNA has finally reached global status!!! With this news, they celebrated by convincing its bigger stars to sign exclusively for them, including Rhino, Christian Cage, Kip James, Brother Runt, Raven, Kevin Nash, Shane Douglas, BG James, Konnan, Simon Diamond, Norman Smiley, Christopher Daniels, Chris Harris, Ron Killings, Elix Skipper, Homicide, Shark Boy, Frankie Kazarian, James Mitchell, Jackie Gayda, James Storm, Tomko, Gail Kim, Petey Williams, Larry Zybysko, Eric Young, Jim Cornette and shock horror…Samoa Joe! They also made a shrewd signing in the form of UFC veteran Ken Shamrock, and internet favourite Lance Storm. Some more staff also came in, with the notable ones being former WWE road agent Dean Malenko, and trainer/booker Danny Davis. Wrestling Society X were also able to make a signing of their own, Billy Kidman, now wrestling under real name Pete Gruner.

Still, we can talk about these companies big signings all day long, what really matters is what’s going in Americas only recognised backyard promotion, Hot Shot Wrestling. Here’s the card for Heatwave, featuring the tournament quarter finals to crown the first ever Hot Shot Champion…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt Wrestler Vs Hugh Lose (Dark Match) – Time to show Matt what happens to those who complain on a regular basis. It’s only a dark match though, so I can get away with it.

Quarter Final #1: Doug L. Entendre Vs Mastodon – In brackets that were drawn entirely at random (I swear ), two men who have quickly become the solid midcard of HSW now face each other, potentially in an opportunity to break out of the ranks and get that elusive title belt next month.

Quarter Final #2: Lutricia Vs Doberman – Manager Vs Client, who’d have thought that this would happen?

Quarter Final #3: Matt Wrestler drew the bye – With only seven workers on the roster, there had to be a bye in the pot, and our very own a-matt-teur wrestler got it. Meaning he will automatically face the winner of the main event next month in a semi-final.

Quarter Final #4: Johnny Knight Vs Hugh Lose – Talk about the short straw. Our winless high flyer has to overcome the most popular and gifted man in the company if he wants to proceed further in the tourney.

[ZJ Penn]

Ladies and Gentlemen: Hot Shot Wrestling presents its third ever show; Heatwave!!!

In attendance are 15 fans (!!!), breaking our record by some 10 people, with some of them even arriving in time to see the scheduled dark match.

Dark Match: Hugh Lose d. Matt Wrestler

An expected DUD dark match between the two which I'm trying to use to punish Matt Wrestler for his outbursts, and maybe nick a bit of overness at the same time. Lose pings around for Wrestlers high impact suplexes, but in the end it's him who looks good for once, flipping out of the back of Wrestlers attempted Bridging Back Suplex and nailing a Super Kick. Lose then ascends the top rope and hits the Frog Splash for his first three count in HSW. Obviously it doesn't count though, being a dark match an' all. Didn't stop him shouting to Matt that “You tried to take on Hugh Lose, and guess what...you lose!!!”

(40, 19, 61)

Doug L. Entendre Promo

It's cause for celebration for Hugh Lose, although he doesn't really get chance, as the actual show begins and Entendre kicks him out of the ring. He's out to hype the incoming match with Mastodon, and make some gay references along the way. This time it's something along the lines of “This match is possibly the biggest of my career, and I'll do anything to win it, whether the fans like it or not. I'll grab a handful of Mastodons tights, I'll aim low with my strikes. Heck, I'd even be prepared to grab myself a weapon, grip it tightly, and slap it right across his face till he begs for the referee to end the match. That's the Doug L. Entendre way!”

(46% - Fairly poor by his standards)

Mastodon d. Doug L. Entendre

Unfortunately for Doug, his match tactics don't quite pay off; maybe announcing them in front of the referee before the match was a bad idea. Mastodon is able to build several periods of solid momentum after some shoulder blocks and clotheslines, but each time Entendre cuts him off with low blows, eye rakes etc. The 1/2 * match comes to a close as Entendre manages to escape the Running Powerslam and hit his Small Package with his feet on the ropes. Johnny Guy counts the three...but then decides the match will go on after noticing the feet on the ropes! Entendre is obviously furious and pushes the referee in a fit of rage leading to the DQ! Mastodon is ecstatic to be through to the semis, whereas Entendre pounds the mat in complaint.

(47, 26, 69)

Johnny Knight - Promo

The only worker worthy of a good promo in HSW at the moment is at the peak of his promo prowess tonight, eclipsing all that went before this as he stuck in some early build for his main event quarter final with “winless” Hugh Lose.

(75%)

Lutricia Promo for Doberman

It's the monthly promo from HSW's monster and his Goth manager, as Lutricia runs down the opposition…

Lutricia - “Take a good look...a nice, long look at this man in front of you all. He is like something out of your nightmares, and by the time he's shown what he can do to the people who oppose him in this company, you wont be able to dream anymore. Doberman has unparalleled strength and my unimaginable brains on his side, and with these advantages, that title belt is as good as ours. We're taking that belt to the dark side, and never going to relinquish it, and we're taking the first step here tonight, as I forfeit my match against Doberman, giving him a free pass to the semi-final against Mastodon. Who need we remind you; we beat decisively not that long ago. Then after we beat him, it's onto either Knight or Wrestler for the title, which I can't see being much of a problem.”

Doberman - “...”

(56%)

*The Lutricia - Doberman match was forfeited as a result, Doberman will meet Mastodon in the semis next month*

Matt Wrestler Receives a Bye

A solid enough interview given by our street clothed shoot fighter with no actual shoot experience...

Wrestler - “Well, here I am. First of all, I'll admit it. I might have lost in singles competition to that piece of trash Johnny Knight last month, but that was but a hiccup, a bump in the road to the top of this industry. Next month it all gets back on track for the worlds greatest pure wrestler. Yeah, so I got a bye, so what? Any of you moronic Matt Wrestler wannabees actually think I wouldn't have got through had I had a challenger? I didn't think so…”

(57% - Some nice heel heat generated here)

Johnny Knight Promo

In his second promo of the night (OOC: I hate doing this by the way, milking good workers, sorry. I need to fill the slots up and can't afford more workers), Knight finalises the build for the main event, as well as trying to put down Doberman, Lutricia and Matt Wrestler. To an extent, it worked.

(67%)

Johnny Knight d. Hugh Lose

Did anyone really think poor old High Flyin' Hugh actually stood a chance against the mighty Knight? It's our greatest match to date overall though, as they bust out a *3/4 rated match as they both pulled out aerial manoeuvres of every variety, with Johnny carrying the technical and brawling side of it on his own. The match even sees an appearance from Matt Wrestler, who hits the ring to try and attack Knight and help Hugh Lose to the semi-final, thus making Matt have a good chance of getting to the final of the title tournament. Instead, he takes the Starlight for his troubles and is tossed to the outside. It's a slight distraction though, as when Knight finally turns around...it's into a Superkick. Lose ascends the top rope once more, but his Frog Splash doesn't connect as Knight rolls out of the way and locks on the Triangle Choke in the middle of the ring! Hugh taps and Johnny Knight advances to close the show!!!

(56, 30, 82)

Best Match - Johnny Knight defeats Hugh Lose

Best Promo - Johnny Knight hypes his Quarter Final with Hugh Lose

Worst Match - Hugh Lose beats Matt Wrestler in the Dark Match

Worst Promo - Doug L. Entendre hypes his tourney match with Mastodon

Attendance - 15 People (I nearly wish I'd charged)

Overall Comments: Again this show breaks our record for the best ever, coming in at a 2% increase at 52%. Some sort of actual feuds and characters are now emerging and developing, and I actually wrote some promos and matches to a certain extent shock horror. A massive 15 are in attendance, very pleasing I have to say.

Edited April 19, 2007 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

- There’s no messing about once more, as I’ll run straight into the post show feedback. Doug L. Entendre finally eclipsed Matt Wrestler at 30% overness after his third month of promo time and decent quarter final match. With him being now our most over heel, I decided it was time to push as so, boosting him up to the upper midcard, a position previously only inhabited by Matt. As previously mentioned, we were able to break our record at 15 people at Heatwave, some great news which we can hopefully keep up. Outside of Hot Shot Wrestling and ECWA are the latest company to drop to small level, even though the market is in a boom. They had to cancel their last show, which led to a host of releases from the staff and talent. In terms of our talent, Johnny Knight remains our leading character, a 4% increase to his overness at 40%. The next highest is Entendre, whilst our least over character is Dobermans manager Lutricia, who is the only worker still in singles figures for overness. Matt Wrestler is the only person whose overness didn’t move, obviously due to his job to Hugh Lose in the dark match, before being launched from the ring in the main event.

- Some big news at the start of May now, as ECWA announce that the move to small level was too long in coming, and they have now gone bankrupt from mounting debts. Combat Zone Wrestling picked up a new television show on Wednesdays, as ROH’s Tony Cox retired too, although was replaced within days by Tom Morrison. In the other retirements announced, both Ax of Demolition and Yoshiaki Yatsu broke that this would in fact be their final month in the business. In HSW’s own news, Johnny Knight declared to me that our continual losing of money was bad, but thanks to the fact that our PI was still rising, we were still okay. Hence we decided to review our contract situation. Both Hugh Lose and Mastodon were running a bit low on contracts, and while one was happy to re-sign for another year, the other had gotten a bit big for his boots and wouldn’t. With his overness maybe too high to bring down in time, we may be getting ready for our first departure. Due to this impending loss of talent, we decided to grab someone off the unemployed list and start their build early. We were able to find a young fairly charismatic all rounder called Dustin Thomas. He became Quinton Tresting, a rich snob know-it-all, so obviously a heel. His finishing move is the ‘Brain Training’, a super stiff Enziguri to the opponents grey matter. I’ve already got plans for him, which would come into effect sooner rather than later, had it not being for…

- Monday 7th May. This is notable in that this is the date of HSW’s first ever ‘incident’, and one that’s buggered up my main event plans for the next few months, forcing a serious rethink. It comes after newly promoted upper midcarder and most over heel Doug L. Entendre surpasses all that Matt Wrestler has done and more, by being caught with drugs on his person by a local officer. Shit. I seriously here thought about just ignoring the incident, and had it been for something like arguing with other wrestlers or making a late appearance than I probably would have. The same also applies to the possibility of a one month suspension. Whilst at least I would have known how long he’d be out for, I can’t have an addict main eventing my shows now…can I? As a result, it was a warning and permission to go to rehab for Entendre. Time for a change at the top methinks.

- Two weeks later and another promotion makes the unfortunate drop to small level, this time it’s NWA-A. They are forced to cancel their monthly show as well as release a number of talents, including Azrael and several staff members.

That’s all the news for the month of May, time for our fourth show since HSW’s formation. Here’s the card for Raging Blaze…

-----------------------------------------------------------

Main Event: ??? Vs ??? (Hot Shot Championship) – The winners of the two semis meet in the main event, with the winner being crowned the first ever Hot Shot Champion.

Semi-Final #2: Matt Wrestler Vs Johnny Knight – The second semi of the night sees a rematch from Feel the Heat, as HSW’s “shoot fighter” takes on its great entertainer.

Semi-Final #1: Mastodon Vs Doberman w/Lutricia – The first semi final of the night is another rematch from a past show, as the monstrous Doberman and short, squat Mastodon square off. They also originally met at Feel the Heat, with Doberman and his Goth manager helping to grab the victory.

Quinton Tresting Vs Hugh Lose – Its debut time in the opener now, as rich snob Quinton Tresting has his first match against perennial jobber Hugh Lose, who’s yet to score a counting pinfall in his HSW career.

[ZJ Penn]

It’s time for without a shadow of a doubt, Hot Shot Wrestling’s biggest event of all time. It’s time to crown a new champion of the company, it’s time to debut new talent and it’s time for round two between certain wrestlers. It’s time for...

Raging Blaze!!!

Dark Segment – Quinton Tresting presents something Quite Interesting

With the fans beginning to gather at ringside and Doug L. Entendre “suspended indefinitely” for his push on referee Johnny Guy last month, his usual opening promo is given to the debuting Quinton Tresting, who apparently wants to tell the crowd something Quite Interesting in the ‘pilot’ of his new segment (I say pilot because we’ll see how it goes)…

Quinton Tresting – “Good evening ladies and gents” *crowd boos the man whose smoking jacket, monocle and pipe clearly mean he’s a heel* “Oh, I see. Well, while it’s very clear to see that you people have no class at all, I would most certainly think that it’s not too big an accusation of me to claim that you are also sub-standard when it comes to intelligence too. For example, how many wives did Henry VIII have?” *crowd member shouts out six* “No! This is exactly what I’m talking about you idiotic imbecile! The answer is two! The marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled, so it technically never took place. His marriage to Anne Boleyn was granted as being illegal by The Pope. He passed a law which also made his first marriage invalid and finally annulled his marriage to Catherine Howard. That makes how many legal marriages? Two my dim-witted friends, two. However that’s all no longer important to you anyway, as your heads are probably already too full of thoughts about beer-drinking, football watching rubbish to really comprehend the interesting aspects of our world. I bid you good day…”

(The crowd boo the arrogant, snobbish attitude of the new Quinton Tresting, but in a good way, as he removes his out-of-ring attire to get ready for his match)

(48% - Not bad given his overness, will get better as time goes by)

Quinton Tresting d. Hugh Lose

Tresting is already in the ring as Hugh makes his way out. The two put on a largely high risk match, although they blow more spots than they pull off in this DUD. The finish comes as Tresting heads to the outside to slow Loses momentum down, as he reaches out to grab Quinton, Hugh gets nailed with the brass knuckles which referee Johnny Guy fails to see and High Flyin’ Hugh is out on his feet! Quinton ditches the weapon and re-enters the ring, a stiff as hell Brain Training Enziguri puts him down for the three as the debutant picks up a solid win.

(40, 17, 63)

Promo – Mastodon

I didn’t want to do it, but without Entendre “suspended” there was a gaping hole on the show and this was the only way I could fill it. The menacing Mastodon gives it his all as he tells Doberman that the only reason he got beat before was because of that damn Lutricia and he’s challenging the psychotic masked giant to come out and face him one-on-one with no interference. Still, this would be a poor promo by Stephen Hawkins standards though.

(34%)

Mastodon Vs Doberman

Amazingly, Doberman joins his opponent in the ring for this semi-final without his gloomy harlot of a manageress at ringside, in tonight’s second DUD rating, something that need be addressed. Without the distraction of Lutricia, Mastodon takes the advantage with some poor brawling, nearly getting pin falls off of the back of both a Piledriver and a standing Spinebuster. Doberman powers out at two each time though and comes back with more ferocity than before, rocking Mastodon with a series of clotheslines, then sending him crashing to the mat with a Big Boot. An Implant DDT follows, with Doberman then making a cut-throat into thumbs down motion to signal the Human Nature Powerbomb…and hitting it for the clean three! Doberman, having sent a clear message to the other would-be finalist, goes one step further afterwards by dropping a weary Mastodon to the mat once more with a steel chair to the spine.

(37, 21, 53)

Promo – Matt Wrestler

It’s then the turn of Matt Wrestler to hit the ring, this time in his ring attire (wrestling shorts and MMA gloves actually, in case you were wondering), thus meaning that the second semi-final must be on the way. However, Matt looks like he has something to say first…

Matt Wrestler – “So the time has finally arrived, forget that chump Doberman in the final, this is the main event right here, the winner just having to outclass that stupid, slow bastard will be a formality, that’s all. It’s your fan favourite, the man of a million moves, the only man with amateur fighting experience in Hot Shot Wrestling, the great entertainer…me! Against that out-to-impress, riding his luck, glorified stuntman-come-clown Johnny Knight. Now lets just imagine what happens if the unthinkable becomes a reality and I lose (small pop). Can you imagine having a guy that hasn’t even wrestled an amateur match in his career as the champion? It’d be a damn disgrace! But let’s not delay it any longer. Knight! Get your butt out here to be whipped right now!”

(58%)

Johnny Knight Vs Matt Wrestler

Knight obliges, and heads to the ring for this *1/2 encounter. Wrestler uses his technical skills at first to try and outwrestle Knight for the early win after an early flurry of brawling from Knight, but gets outlasted and Johnny’s superior stamina kicks in, the tired Matt makes some mistakes creating openings and Knight drops him with the Starlight. The referee Johnny Guy counts three and we have our finalists, Johnny Knight and Doberman! Post match though and Matt Wrestler is furious. Knight offers a handshake, but Wrestler instead lands a sucker punch and a belly-to-belly suplex to knock the wind out of Johnny ahead of the final. Such a sore loser.

(59, 42, 76)

Lutricia Promo for Doberman

Just as Knight gets to his feet for a short period of rest, his final opponent Doberman hits the ring with Lutricia. It looks like his rest period isn’t going to happen, and Knight is still smarting from the blindside from Matt Wrestler. However, Lutricia has something to say first, as she tells Knight that ‘this is the biggest match in HSW history, it needs to be something more memorable than a regular match. Therefore, on behalf of Doberman, I’m suggesting we change it to a ladder match!’

(51%)

Johnny Knight Replies

Naturally, the hero of the piece accepts the challenge, although as Doberman continues his grunting and heavy breathing, Lutricia tells him it’s a big mistake, as it’s just giving her client more brutal ways of punishing him. It’s a highly intense exchange, probably the best promo of the night.

(67%)

Doberman Vs Johnny Knight (Hot Shot Championship Ladder Match)

Referee Johnny Guy hangs the belt from a washing line above the ring, grabs a borrowed stepladder from underneath it and HSW’s most important match to date begins. At first, the fact Knight only last wrestled a few minutes ago doesn’t seem to show, as he uses his pace to avoid Dobermans sluggish strikes and knock him back with some hard right hands. He comes off of the ropes for a big one but gets caught in a bear hug. He tries to escape by clawing at Dobermans mask, but the powerhouse instead carries him across the ring and drops his spine across the ladder. The punishment continues with a swinging neckbreaker, a delayed suplex across the ladder and a hard military press to the outside. Knight is then struggling to walk as Doberman launches him back in the ring and into the corner. He follows up with a charge but Knight manages to dive out of the way and toss the ladder at the masked giant who staggers back and then Johnny somehow forces him up for the Starlight onto the ladder. Realising it’s not a match he can win with a pinfall, Knight sets up the ladder but Lutricia climbs onto the apron with a chair. She aims a shot…but Knight moves and she hits Doberman!!! This gives him enough time to climb the ladder, but not enough to get the belt before Doberman joins him at the top, being an unstoppable monster an’ all. Fortunately, he’s still a touch stunned from the chair shot, as his right hand is easily scouted and he begins to tumble from the ladder…but Knight grabs him by the arm to stop him falling! For a second it looks as though Knight is showing some compassion, but that soon dissipates, as he sits on the top of the ladder and locks on a Triangle Choke with Doberman hanging down in almost a hangman’s noose image. It’s a pretty unique sight for sure, as Doberman begins to struggle for a short period, only to eventually pass out and be dropped to the canvas. With no pressure on him, Knight calmly and collectedly grabs the title belt to become Hot Shot Wrestling’s first ever Champion and end this *1/4 rated match!!! The crowd of 14 are appreciative of this, as the undefeated champion works all four turnbuckles, showing off his shiny new belt to the world and end the show! Has the brutal bout with Doberman taking its toll on the new champ though?

(59, 37, 75 – The belt rose four image points after the match to 34)

Best Match – Johnny Knight beats Matt Wrestler in a semi-final

Best Promo – Johnny Knight agrees to make the main event a ladder match

Worst Match – Doberman beats Mastodon in the first semi-final

Worst Promo – Mastodon tries to hype his match with Doberman

Attendance – 14 People

Overall Comments: Slightly lower rated than last months show at 51%, although that was to be expected after the rehabbing of Doug L. Entendre, my top heel. It also meant the debut of Quinton Tresting ahead of when I’d planned it, so the event became also about building a new character instead of just the title tournament. The attendance was also one down at 14 people, though that’s still decent for this period in time.

[ZJ Penn]

- Raging Blaze feedback now, starting with some more bitching from the ever present Matt Wrestler. First of all, the man claims that he and Knight again didn’t click in their match, despite it being the best match of the night once more. He then had the audacity to ask to be pushed up the card to the main event! What a bastard. Although considering he has just taken over Doug L. Entendre as the top heel due to his rehabbing, I don’t think I have much of a choice. Also asking to be moved up the card was Quinton Tresting…after only one show with the company. He’ll have to wait his turn, as there’s plenty of workers who should be above him in the pecking order to become an upper midcarder. Our most over worker remains Johnny Knight, whilst Lutricia is sneaking up on Hugh Lose and Quinton in terms of lowest overness. In other news, IWS Bloodstream has also being dropped by its network if you’re interested, and that was it for May.

- However, June was a much more explosive month. First of all, the external news, beginning with WWE as they let Randy Orton’s contract run down further and further, and when it came down to negotiations, neither party reached an agreement and the third generation superstar left the company without a ‘no compete’ clause. It’s unknown whether or not TNA have been in touch yet. Things then went from bad to worse for Vince McMahon, as veteran technical legend Chris Benoit announced that he would retire from the industry after the Vengeance PPV, at the age of 40. He has yet to disclose a reason for this, although some believe his lack of a sustained main event push to be part of the reason. Other high profile retirements included; Earl Hebner from TNA, Bill Watts, Pepe Tropicasas from AAA, Lowell Weicker Jr. from PWG, Ronnie Griffith and Charlotte Cox. As mentioned last month, Ax of Demolition and Yoshiro Yatsu both retired this month, with Yatsu also claiming he would be interested in running his own promotion in the near future. Announcements from workers that they would be retiring soon included Chaz Warrington, also known as Meat or Headbanger Mosh from WWE, as well as Hiroshi Hase and El Hijo Del Cobarde. ROH also claimed their second TV show in nearly as many months, again striking a deal with the Sci-Fi channel, this time for a graveyard slot on Wednesdays. Finally, bad news for smaller promotions now, as not only have NWA: Anarchy gone bankrupt, but JAPW have issued a bankruptcy warning. This has all happened despite a supposed boom in wrestling. Back with HSW, and Johnny Knight informed me that our scenario remains the same. Debts are still mounting, but as long as we continue to get the Public Image, that’s what counts. There were also several birthdays within the roster this month, as Quinton Tresting (22), Matt Wrestler (25) and Mastodon (24) all got one year older, but probably not wiser. We also decided to go for it in terms of advertising, boosting it back up to 1% from nothing.

- Some early news in the month of June now, as WWE were able to complete the re-signing of former talent D’Lo Brown, surely not as Randy Orton’s replacement? Wrestling Society X also completed the signing of Cibernetico to a written deal, whilst IWA-PR managed to defy other promotions declines to climb to cult level, signing Juventud Guerrera, TAKA Michinoku, Kohei Sato and Glenn Gilberti along the way. Heartland Wrestling Association also managed to rise to cult level under Les Thatcher’s guidance, although it didn’t lead to any more signings.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With one of either Hugh Lose or Mastodon looking less than likely to be with us in two months time, we realised that we were running out of faces on the roster. We would, in the current situation, have two faces against five heels. When one of those faces is Hugh Lose or Mastodon, you really know you’re in trouble too. Hence we decided to bring in another worker to HSW, and begin his build early before we got left low on numbers. I felt with Johnny Knight (Old School Face), Doberman and Lutricia (Monster/Goth), Matt Wrestler (Irritating Shoot Veteran), Hugh Lose (Perennial Jobber), Doug L. Entendre (Arrogant) and Quinton Tresting (Rich Snob) all at least beginning to get a whiff of character development, there was little point adding another, so our new mans gimmick was that he didn’t have one. That’s right, he was a ‘mute’, old school Sabu style, he turns up to wrestle and that’s it. The man chosen to play this guy was an out of work high flyer named Black Rain, who was American despite having that Japanese masked Power Ranger thing going on. It’s a good job he’s a mute in HSW actually, given his 23% charisma. He is going to play a face though, so we decided that Black Rain was a bit too sombre of a name, and instead he became…White Rain!!! Relentless as ever, it’s onto our first milestone mark, as our fifth PPV rolls around for Johnny Knight’s first title defence at…

“Baptism Of Fire!”

Main Event: Johnny Knight Vs ??? (Hot Shot Championship) – It’s all a bit secretive tonight, as Knights first title challenger has yet to be confirmed

????? – Another unannounced slot, although we have promised in our advertising a fourth match

Quinton Tresting Vs Mastodon – Tresting defeated HSW’s least over face last month; can he climb the ladder and beat the next most over one here tonight?

Dark Match: White Rain Vs Mastodon – Mastodon pulls double duty tonight as he is White Rains first opponent on his ‘debut’. Can White Rain claim a famous scalp that he can’t talk about for years to come?

[I Don't Mind]

I just got done reading through this whole thing and I must say it has a lot of promise. My favorite character is probably Doug L. Entandre and I hope he gets out of rehab soon. I also love your sense of humor when writing and booking, especially in your news reports. Hopefully you get some more actual storylines going soon because things seem like they're getting moderately dull, but then again with the "revolving door" of your talent pool, it's understandable. Good luck with this (Y)

[ZJ Penn]

As ever, I’m not one for pre-show build-up, so let’s get straight on with the show…

“Baptism Of Fire!”

Dark Match – White Rain d. Mastodon

The dark match is, like most of our events dark bouts, a DUD match. This time I anticipated it though, with the clash of styles an’ all, it’s just about getting some overness for our new Mr. Silent. Match sees Mastodon utilise his power to overcome Rain at first with slams and right hands, but he battles back and uses a variety of Dropkicks, Superkicks and Flying Forearm shots to drop him to the canvas, then ascends the corner…Swanton Bomb, the pinfall is inevitable and it’s a debut win for White Rain! Post match sees an accepted handshake, a nice little show of respect we don’t usually see in HSW.

(38, 12, 64)

Johnny Knight Promo

The show is opened by our new Hot Shot Champion, who parades the belt around in front of the fans before beginning his speech…

Johnny Knight – “You know I’d love to sit here for all it’s worth and milk the thanks from you fantastic fans. However, that’s not the Johnny Knight way. I fought tooth and nail to earn this strap, and I intend to keep fighting to retain it. All too often in this industry we see people climb to the top, but then back out of defences every month, but that’s not going to be me. The day I can’t defend this title is the day I give it up. But moving on, I fully intend on performing for you all tonight and giving a great match. However, I don’t see anyone on the horizon that can face me. So as the Hot Shot of this company, I’m going to use this responsibility to create, a first ever in this company, Triple Threat match later tonight between Doberman, Hugh Lose and Matt Wrestler, for the number one contendership in the main event! And it’s all good, because when you’re the Hot Shot…you call the shots!!!”

(70% - Knight introduces the booking power element of being Hot Shot Champion like only he can in a great, for us, promo)

Promo – Quinton Tresting with Something Quite Interesting

It’s a return to the ring for Quinton Tresting, one of the promotions fastest rising stars in terms of overness build, as he arrives ahead of his match with Mastodon for another opportunity to enlighten us on the facts of this world…

Quinton Tresting – “Good evening ladies and gentleman, I see that you simply couldn’t resist missing out on another instalment of my parting of knowledge upon the world. (Boos) Now last week I came up with a piece of shocking historical information that Henry VIII did only have two wives, not six. This week I’m feeling generous, so here’s a double whammy of quite interesting facts. (More boos) First of all, the driest place on earth…where is it? Before any of you moronic ignoramuses can try and one up me with ‘Oh I know, the Sahara LOL’ I’m gonna tell you to shut your damn mouths! Fact of the matter is it’s a small area of Antarctica actually. A desert is technically defined as an area that receives less than 10 inches of rainfall per year. So while the Sahara is indeed very dry, two per cent of Antarctica, known as the Dry Valleys, doesn’t get any significantly measurable rain at all. If my maths is correct, which it probably is, I make it about 250 times drier than the Sahara. That, men and women, is quite interesting. What’s my other interesting fact? It’s that in about ten minutes time, referee Johnny Guy is going to call for the bell and declare me the winner of this next match. So, whatever your name is, get out here and let me do my thing!”

(50% - An improvement on last week, and hopefully as I said, will get better with time)

Quinton Tresting d. Mastodon

Well who'd have thought it? The second DUD of the night! I should really stop putting mismatched styles together, or at least hire some more all rounders. Still, a much shorter match seeing as Mastodon has already been in the ring once tonight. He has some brief offence, but Tresting battles back with nefarious tactics, then hitting the Brain Training Enziguri. He then rolls him up with the tights for the tainted win, and also shows that his interesting fact was indeed a fact. Tresting is still undefeated, and jets back down the aisle to avoid any potential backlash from his pissed opponent.

(39, 24, 54)

Matt Wrestler Promo

Hot Shot Wrestling’s “only man with shoot fighting experience” is out here now, so the Triple Threat match must be up soon.

Wrestler – “So, HSW’s first ever Triple Threat match, right here tonight huh?” (Small pop) “And I guess we all owe it to Johnny Knight for thinking up such a brilliant scheme and using his new found power as champion to make it happen?” (Another small pop) “Well, if he wants recognition from me, then he’s going to get it. I’ll give him the recognition of being the most cowardly wrestler to ever set foot in this company! (Boos) In fact, I find it funny that you all claim to be intelligent to this business, and are yet too blind to see what he’s doing. Obviously he feels the need to defend his title, but is abusing his power as champion to wear down any possible challengers in a triple threat match…in the very same event as the title match! So while you all might be illiterate as far as reading the writing on the wall goes, I am going to use every ounce of my amateur wrestling machine fibres, to bring down the tyranny of Johnny Knight. Starting with a demolition of You Lose and…”

(60% - Nice work, shame he’s a prick)

Lutricia Promo for Doberman

…Matt is cut off by the giant Doberman and his dressed all in black manageress Lutricia, who has something to get off her chest (“Ooo-er” – Doug L. Entendre interjection).

Lutricia – “Hold on a second everybody, who’s this in the ring? Why is it not the man who described my good client Doberman as a ‘chump’ and a ‘stupid, slow bastard’? Why I think it is. The same man who announced he’d get to the final and then outclass us to the belt, and then failed to even get past the semi-finals? Again, I think it is. Well, I think your own Judgement Day is now upon us my friend, take him apart Doberman! Then we’ll take that title that rightly belongs to us!” (Doberman grunts in agreement and heads to the ring)

(53% - Another decent promo for this period in time, good job really, as the promos are carrying us)

Matt Wrestler d. Hugh Lose, Doberman

The first ever Triple Threat match in Hot Shot Wrestling is also the first match of the night to raise above a DUD rating! It is still only ½* before I get too excited mind. The match is pretty much a clusterfuck of the very limited trademark spots the three wrestlers have gathered in five short months. Wrestler and Doberman are already brawling as Lose enters the ring with a Missile Dropkick onto both. There are a few more minutes of interchangeable offence from the three, particularly Doberman and Wrestler, as Hugh sells for them. Lose then sends Doberman into the apron with a Hurrancanrana, knocking Lutricia to the floor, and nails Wrestler with a Super Kick. He looks like he might be ready for his first ever victory in the company as he ascends for his Frog Splash…but an enraged Doberman grabs him out of the corner for a massive Human Nature Powerbomb in response for Lose possibly hurting Lutricia. The gentle, evil giant then heads to the outside to check on his manager like all fucking idiotic big men do when they have the match won, and Matt gets back to his feet. He locks the Scissored Sleeper onto Lose to show his great amateur technique, Hugh’s already unconscious, and the referee has to stop the bout. Winner and new number one contender…Matt Wrestler!!! Hugh has jobbed yet again too. ‘What happens when you take on Hugh Lose?’ He loses, usually.

(47, 25, 69)

Johnny Knight Promo

Knight heads to the ring to acknowledge and congratulate Matt on his cheap win, who responds by telling him all is fair in a Triple Threat match, which he created. Knight laughs it off, before telling Wrestler he’s about to get revenge on him for nearly costing him the belt with his cheap shot last month, by making their match a submission match, that starts…right now!!!

(75% - Best promo to date if I’m right in thinking)

Johnny Knight Vs Matt Wrestler (Hot Shot Championship, Submissions Only)

The bout is a quick foray of technical holds, as Matt uses his “unparalleled shoot prowess” to work his leg with leg locks and the like, but as per usual Knight makes the fight back. It’s a pretty short contest comparatively to last month’s ladder match, with promos taking up most of this events time. The fight back allows Johnny to work the arm, shoulder and neck with some slick holds and a guillotine on the ropes. Sensing defeat may be near; Wrestler leans out of the ring and grabs the title belt! He swings…but the champion ducks and dropkicks it into Matt’s face! The Triangle Choke is applied on the weakened arm and throat and we have a submission! Johnny Knight retains in his first defence of the belt in a *1/2 match!

(57, 38, 76)

Best Match – Johnny Knight retains the title against Matt Wrestler

Best Promo – Johnny Knight makes the main event a submission match

Worst Match – White Rain beats Mastodon in a dark match

Worst Promo – Quinton Tresting tells us something Quite Interesting

Attendance – 18 People

Overall Comments: It’s our best show ever at 53%, beating Heatwave by 1%. Our workers are slowly starting to become stars, meaning the decent quality matches they are putting on are starting to mean something. Hopefully the star ratings will follow quick-smart. We also broke our record of attendance, which can only be good for us. The title matches will also start to mean more, as the belt rose in image to 38. I can’t wait to see if this does anything for us in July, which will be one workers final show with us, and hopefully see the return of another.

[ZJ Penn]

- Not much feedback from our fifth show of the year. Our PI continued to rise, we broke the attendance record and it was rated our best show ever, but most of that has already being mentioned. One interesting bit of news was that Mastodon, of all people, wanted pushing up the card! Even though he’s lost his last three matches on the trot, why not? We’ve got Doug L. Entendre in the same slot as he wants to be, and he’s now less over and in rehab. Plus if I do it, we then have two faces and two heels who are Upper Midcarders or higher. It’s all about the balance people. In other news, TNA took advantage of their continued rush up the global image charts by signing three more talented workers to their already bustling roster. Firstly was Mexican great all rounder El Hijo Del Santo, followed by former WWE man Matt Stryker. Then there was the announcement that had Puro fans pleased for the day, as Masahiro Chono agreed an exclusive written deal with them. The 42 year old Japanese legend is without doubt one of the great experienced workers in the business, and I guess his signing is a true show of TNA’s global audience now. End of June.

- Some news from the first day of July now. Man, I can’t believe how quick this is going, July 2007 already. Anyways, Chris Benoit followed through with his proposed retirement, officially retired now along with Chaz Warrington, Hiroshi Hase and El Hijo Del Cobarde. Workers who will apparently join them next month include; Scott Norton, Canek, Angel Azteca and Kenny Bolin. There was also the shocking announcement from Japanese legend Mitsuharu Misawa that July will be his last month in the industry as an active worker. More sad news for the industry now, as both Jersey All Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Unplugged both went bankrupt. Still, it moves us up to the #31 promotion in America, although that is out of 31 promotions. . Oh, and Ron Simmons was released from his second job as road agent in six months. Double Damn!

- Further into the month and WWE complete an absolutely fantastic coup in my opinion, as they seal the exclusive deal of TAKA Michinoku. Could this be the return of Kaientai? Let’s hope so. Scott Hall has also got yet another crack of the whip, as the IWC agree to bring him in for a few dates. More news off the back of this wrestling boom now, as AAA join WSX as a nationally recognised promotion. They celebrate by signing Chris Chetti and EZ Money to written deals, whilst Wrestling Society X prepare for a potential ratings war by signing L.A. Par-K to an exclusive contract to bolster their ranks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Onto our next event now, “Burning Down The House”, and it’s going to be the last HSW event for somebody, as we witness the first ever worker departure from Hot Shot Wrestling…

White Rain Vs Quentin Tresting – Both men are undefeated, although have only wrestled three matches between them. It’s one of the only times there hasn’t been a dark match on the shows card, so here’s hoping they give everything so I can see if they gel at least.

Career Match: Hugh Lose Vs Mastodon – It’s time to see who stays and who goes. There’s my plan for the future possibly including new faces, so the wage bill needs slashing and more space creating on the roster. As an added incentive, Johnny Knight has used his power as the Hot Shot of the company to…

Main Event: Johnny Knight Vs Hugh Lose OR Mastodon (Hot Shot Championship) - …give the winner of the match a title shot in the main event. With Doberman and Matt Wrestler falling to him in successive weeks, it’s time for some fresh faces around the title picture apparently.

Grudge Match: Doberman Vs Matt Wrestler – After my proposal to stop mismatching styles, this is probably the worst of the bunch, as Doberman has literally no technical or aerial skills, whilst Matt’s brawling is his worst in-ring attribute. However, there is an element of back-story to it, with Matt Wrestler claiming that Doberman had no chance of winning the belt and that beating him would be a “formality”. Doberman responded next month, by cutting him off short along with Lutricia and they brawled in the ring in a Triple Threat match which Wrestler won after sneaking the submission on Hugh Lose after the Human Nature Powerbomb. Tonight they meet one-on-one to settle the score.

[I Don't Mind]

Finally the subtitle comes into play and makes this diary unique. It's interesting the way Johnny Knight uses his booking power as champion but I can't wait to see how a heel like Matt Wrestler would use, or abuse, his power as champion.

The whole Quinton Tresting thing I think is fun right now and gives your shows some flavor but it seems like a segment that's going to quickly burn itself out. A couple more shows in and I think you're going to have a hard time coming up with interesting facts that make the crowd look dumb. Either way though, I'm enjoying it as it's going.

I know you're not holding a prediction contest or anything, but I thought I would fill up space with feedback.

White Rain Vs Quentin Tresting

Testing's got the charisma and a weekly segment to get him over while White Rain has to rely on what he can do in the ring; thus, I go for Rain, though right now he's kind of a boring character.

Career Match: Hugh Lose Vs Mastodon

Hugh Lose gets his first non-dark-match victory, but by some cheap way, like DQ or Countout. Either way, Hugh Lose serves more of a purpose being the lovable high-flying jobber who knows how to sell as opposed to Mastadon who's very much the opposite. Either way, hopefully you bring in one or two new characters to spice things up once one of these guys are gone.

Main Event: Johnny Knight Vs Hugh Lose OR Mastodon (Hot Shot Championship)

Because he wins matches "the Johnny Knight way".

Grudge Match: Doberman Vs Matt Wrestler

This was probably the toughest prediction, as Doberman's being built up as a BAMF (bad ass mother fucker) but Matt Wrestler just seems like he's built to be the top heel of the company. Either way, I like Wrestler's character just a little more than Doberman, but not by much as Doberman is a good character as well.

[ZJ Penn]

I’ll just take a little time out here to acknowledge the feedback so far, which I’m grateful for, thanks for letting me know what you like/dislike. I’ll spoiler it to try not to disrupt the flow of things with quotes and so on…

I especially dug the snarky news comments before the first show - you have a good sense of humor.

[ZJ Penn]

- A very small amount of feedback from post show. Firstly Mastodon declared that he wasn’t able to click with Hugh Lose, and as a result he felt their match didn’t flow that freely. Yeah well, fuck him; he’s gone in a day’s time anyway. Johnny Knight remains our most over worker, but not by the large margin you’d think he would be, as Matt Wrestler just continues to gain overness. It’s almost as if he wants to leave us . Our least over workers are Lutricia and White Rain. While White Rain has the excuse that he only joined two months ago and has nearly doubled his starting overness in that time, Dobermans mouthpiece (Ooo-er, another Doug L. Entendre interjection) has consistently failed to get over as an effective character. Maybe there’s just no place for women in backyard promotions unless they’re nude. Special mentions go out to both Hugh Lose and Quinton Tresting. They both have made massive overness leaps in recent months to now be up there with the best of them bar Knight and Wrestler. I’ll tell you one thing though; it’s gonna be a helluva change for Doug L. Entendre when he finally hauls himself out of rehab. Before he left he was our most over heel, if he’s not back by August, he could very well be the least over one. Last point to mention before I head into the next month is that of the Hot Shot Championship. Its prestige is now 42, which is a solid rise over recent months, hopefully it’ll continue getting better throughout the next few too.

- Some interesting news on the 1st August that you may or may not be interested in. Firstly Mastodon left the promotion after getting too big for his boots and refusing to re-sign. Thus we saw the relentless jobbing of his character for months on end, often twice in an evening. In fact, his last win came against Doug L. Entendre in the title tournament…no wonder Doug went into rehab. Anyhow, all of the announced retirements took place including that of Mitsuharu Misawa and Greg Gagne, as well as Canek and Scott Norton. Other news saw no less than four other TV shows get pushed into primetime slots. These were; ROH’s Wednesday show, High Impact TV, IWA Impacto Total and CZW Wednesday.

- In other news, Border City Wrestling became the next promotion to rise to the next level, as they became a cult rated federation. They expanded their roster at this point, signing both Glenn Gilberti and Buff Bagwell to written deals. However, perhaps the biggest coup of the lot came when they were able to tempt former WWE Women’s Champion and arguably greatest female worker of recent times Trish Stratus out of retirement and work exclusively for them. I speculated how they did this for a few seconds, and then decided it was probably because they’re a Canadian based promotion, and she’s a damn Canuck isn’t she? One potential problem for them now though is that she is without doubt their most over worker, meaning surely they’ll have to make her the champion? These are crazy times indeed. They were soon followed into cult level by the World Wrestling Council, who celebrated with the signings of Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, draws we can only dream of at the minute.

- Heartland Wrestling Association have revealed that they have failed to take advantage of their cult status, falling back to regional level. Hilariously, the show which did this to them was titled, “Ain’t That a Shame”. Excellent. This led to more releases on their part, none of which were famous enough for me to make a note of. On the other hand, Wrestling Society X continued to flash the cash, Jacques Rougeau Jr. signing Perro Aguayo Jr. and J.R. Ryder to written deals with them. Turns out that BCW aren’t messing about after joining the cult leagues. They backed up the Trish Stratus coup, with the signings of both Scott Hall and Bob “The Beast” Sapp. This kinda pissed on the news from the TNA camp that they had signed Mando Guerrero to a written deal, that AAA had signed Matt Bentley exclusively and that IWC would bring Aja Kong in for a few dates. ROH have had their TV show on Wednesdays dropped by the Sci-Fi network. I knew they were doing too well to be true. WSX have also signed more people to written deals, the three most notable being Ultimo Guerrero, The Amazing Red and Sean O’Haire.

Enough about everyone else though, time for our seventh monthly and only unique event…

“Hot Lottery”

Hot Lottery – The Hot Lottery is the only event on the wrestling calendar where all matches are random…they all have random stipulations attached to them…anything can happen. Guaranteed to appear at the event is Hot Shot Champion and man whose brain produced the concept of the event Johnny Knight, “Shoot Fighter” Matt Wrestler, the masked madman Doberman, “You Lose” Hugh Lose, White Rain and Quentin Tresting. Furthermore, the man who draws current champion Johnny Knight will be rewarded with an instant title opportunity.

Dark Match: Johnny Knight Vs White Rain – While a lot of workers have been given two matches to shine every now and again, like Hugh Lose last month and Matt Wrestler the week before, Knight has rarely been shifted out of the main event, particularly with this title reign too. However this month he’ll get the chance to really keep the ring rust off, as the early arriving fans will get to witness a hopefully spectacular affair of high flying moves. Champion Vs Jobber, it’s going to be one for the ages for sure.

[ZJ Penn]

It’s all or nothing time for us now, as we take a gamble (don’t excuse the pun, it was a good ‘un) on a...

“Hot Lottery”

Dark Match: Johnny Knight d. White Rain

This *1/4 affair was as basic as they come for dark matches, with White Rain having a brief period of offence to open and showcase his talents. Knight obviously comes back though to get a clean submission via the Triangle Choke after hitting his opponent with three consecutive Fisherman’s Suplexes. Afterwards he shakes the hand of his opponent, indicating some good sportsmanship all round from the two faces. Knight didn’t expend too much energy, hopefully saving some for his Hot Lottery match-up.

(53, 34, 75)

Lutricia promo for Doberman

The show is now officially opened by Doberman and his female manager, Lutricia. After last weeks disaster when she scored only 40%, it’s up to her to convince that she can carry another workers lack of charisma. She keeps it short and sweet, telling us that while it would be one thing for Doberman to get a title opportunity against Johnny Knight, “Deep down in the darkest corner of his sadistic soul, the name we both want the most to pop up? Matt Wrestler.”

(51% - A mighty 11% increase on last month, hopefully last week was just a blip)

Hot Lottery Match #1

The first match is scheduled to start now, and is done so by referee Johnny Guy doing a completely fair and random draw from a dodgy looking old bingo machine. He spins it round, reaches in and the first name is…White Rain! He repeats the process to find the challenger, and it’s…Hugh Lose! As the two men begin to enter the ring and shake hands, being two faces and the like, the referee uses the worlds fairest and also impossible-to-rig system as he draws a small piece of paper from a hat, before announcing that the match will be…Falls Count Anywhere! It’s as simple a *1/4 match as they come, with both men having a period of momentum then the finish. Hugh is first with the advantage after scoring big with a Superkick and a Top Rope Neckbreaker for a near fall, before they spill to the outside and in and around the crowd, where White Rain takes over. He nails a Missile Dropkick off of the apron and follows with an Irish Whip into the few empty seats left in the audience of 24. Rain tries to follow up with a Swanton Bomb off the apron…but Hugh moves out the way and scores with his Frog Splash to the grass (we’re in a park remember) for the win. Post match sees Hugh work the crowd, declaring once more…“Mess with Hugh Lose…and you lose!” Two wins in two months and a title match opportunity, not bad for someone who was in a career match a short while back.

(48, 14, 82)

Johnny Knight Promo

It’s the first promo of the night for our champion, who praises the match that preceded this segment, before moving onto his title defence. He warns us that it could be anyone from Doberman, to Quentin Tresting; even Matt Wrestler could get another shot. He also warns that it could be any type of match from just a regular singles match…to a First Blood match.

(73%)

Matt Wrestler Promo

After a very short intermission, the show kicks off again with Matt Wrestler in the ring, having just being drawn as the first man to compete in the second ‘Hot Lottery’ match of the night.

Matt Wrestler – “Right first things first, right out of the shoot. As far as I am concerned, my little feud or whatever you’d call it with Doberman is over and done with. Done and dusted. You know what? Maybe I was a little harsh on him when I declared that he had no skill in the ring. Maybe those cheap shots I took at him and his skank manager where uncalled for. But you know what? I don’t care, never have and never will. I’m one hundred times the wrestler they will ever be combined and I’m not afraid to say it. I’m the best damn athlete here, and HSW needs me more than I need it. I could walk out the door right now and the first thing I’d smell would be those contracts shoved right under my nose. My point is that I’m too good to be facing the scum of this company like Doberman. I should be at the top, the pinnacle of this company. I should be the so-called ‘Hot Shot’, walking around with my shiny belt in tow, creating matches and events like I own the place. So how about it Knight? Why don’t you get your scrawny butt out here, and hand that title over to me like the procedure it should be.”

(51%)

Hot Lottery Match #2

Wrestler is primed and ready in the ring for Knight to arrive, as referee Johnny Guy picks out his opponent for the night…and the crowd go wild for Doberman! The ‘Oh shit’ look is clearly visible on Matt’s face, as he is joined in the ring by his pissed 6’8” counterpart, who just can’t wait to get his hands on Wrestler. The bell rings and he tries to escape like he did last month via a count out, however, referee Johnny Guy doesn’t count him out as he’s just drawn the stipulation that the match will be a hardcore bout! It is by all accounts a poor match at ¼*, as actual wrestling moves go out the window in terms of basic striking and weapon shots. Wrestler struggles to gain control of the match due to Dobermans higher endurance and power giving him the immediate advantage in the hardcore situation. However, Matt does nearly get the unexpected win after beating him down with a kendo stick, but Lutricia distracts him to avoid the three count being awarded and Doberman comes back. He finally gets the win after what would have been a sick spot involving the Human Nature onto a steel chair, had it not been for the low quality of our chairs. Afterwards Wrestler tries to ambush the giant with a chair, but Lutricia grabs hold of it and he is nailed with yet another Human Nature Powerbomb. The monster of a man stands over his enemy of recent weeks, looking victorious at the climax of this mini-feud.

(41, 16, 66)

Promo - Quinton Tresting

The irrepressible Quentin Tresting is now almost skipping to the ring with excitement, as he realises what’s about to happen…

Quentin Tresting – “Good evening everybody (crowd boos). Ya see, now normally I’d fly into a blinding rage about that…that unnecessary booing, but oh no, not tonight. I’d also normally, try and achieve mission impossible by educating you dimwits in some way, shape or form. Like telling you for example…that the Guillotine wasn’t invented in France, its actual original origin was Halifax in England. But again, it just isn’t going to happen here tonight. Because ya see, I have to keep my focus. Now that every other name has been drawn from that machine, it just has to be me! Me…against Johnny Knight…for the Hot Shot Championship! Heck, it doesn’t even matter what the stipulation is, Johnny Knight can come out here and make this a damn machine-gun-on-a-pole match and I’ll still take his title…in the process becoming HSW’s greatest ever wrestler! Now that my un-educated friends, that’s quite interest…” (The promo is cut short by the introduction of reigning Hot Shot Champion Johnny Knight)

(47% - Sigh)

Johnny Knight Drops A Bombshell

The champion gets in the ring, ready for a fight. But instead of starting the match, he tells the referee to hang on and gets ready to say something…

Johnny Knight – “Wow, your mouth just ran a marathon that I bet your boots couldn’t run in the ring. What’s the best part of it all? It’s that most probably you could be doing it all in vain. Just what makes you so certain it is going to be me against you for this here belt? Referee Johnny Guy, if you’d be so kind to draw the names of the competitors…actually no wait! Let’s build some tension and start with the match stipulation.” (The ref reaches in…and pulls out a piece of paper with Last Man Standing written across it. Tresting looks a little concerned at this, but nonetheless is still sure he’s got the title match) “Now if you’d be so kind to draw the name of the first and second competitors.” (Again he draws the names; the first one is the name of the champion Johnny Knight. However the second name is shown to both competitors and causes Tresting to throw an in-ring tantrum and attack Johnny! He remains cool, calm and collected though, to drop his opponent with the Starlight and toss him to the outside) “Ladies and gentleman, my opponent for the night for the HSW Championship in a Last Man Standing match! Doug L. Entendre!!!”

(75% - New Record. Coolio.)

Hot Lottery Match #3 – Johnny Knight © Vs Doug L. Entendre (HS Championship - Last Man Standing)

It’s the biggest match in our history, although it only reaches a rating of ¾* for its quality, understandable given the ring rust of one of its competitors. There is also a decent ovation for Entendre, making his first appearance in over four months for us in a shocking fashion. The two lock up and have a solid, if unspectacular contest varying between brawling and technical exchanges. It also seems that in his time off Doug L. Entendre has given his code of ethics a rethink, portraying a face for the match’s duration, as he refrains from using cheap shots and also breaks holds when told by the referee. Doug is the first to come close to a win, as his Superplex puts Knight down on the canvas for a six count. He gets to his feet though and grabs a second wind, fighting back with his varied offence and dropping Entendre to the mat with an Emerald Fusion. The referee counts seven…eight…nine…but Entendre is somehow back on his feet. As a result the two men continue to slug it out with neither side letting up. It’s after nearly fifteen minutes of fighting (That’s a long time for backyard guys) that the shocking finish finally comes. The two men send each other to the ground with simultaneous running clotheslines, but are both back to their knees by nine, completely exhausted. At this time we see none other than Quentin Tresting come down to the ring, pipe in hand. He seemed really pissed off at Entendre, shouting that “He stole my shot! I should be here! Not you!” as the other two and the referee looked on bewildered, but also unable to give a disqualification under Last Man Standing rules. Then, just as he looked like he was about to leave, he turned and crashed his pipe down with thunderous force…across the head of Johnny Knight!!! Both Tresting and Entendre then embraced in the centre of the ring with twenty four boos raining down along with a variety of trash, and then followed up with a Double Brainbuster onto the champion! The referees count was elemental. Eight…nine…ten, Doug L. Entendre had done it! He, along with undoubted aid from Quinton Tresting in Hot Shot Wrestling’s biggest and only swerve to date, had beaten Johnny Knight for the Hot Shot Championship. Did the two have an explanation? What will happen to Johnny Knight now that he has lost the strap? Now that Doug L. Entendre calls the shots, just what sort of ride is HSW in for? Is this the longest match I’ve written out by far? Find out next month (apart from the last question, obviously).

(56, 46, 67)

Best Match – Doug L. Entendre captures the HS title from Knight with Tresting’s help

Best Promo – Johnny Knight reveals the real challenger for the title

Worst Match – Doberman Vs Matt Wrestler. Again.

Worst Promo – Quinton Tresting thinks he is in the main event

Attendance – 24 People

Overall Comments: It’s another record breaker, this time coming in at a mighty 57%, also breaking the attendance record. Our PI has been pushed up to 37% because of this good event, although our finances are struggling. I should also mention that the image of our title belt has also risen to 44, which hopefully won’t reflect badly on its new owner, who is slightly less over than the title.

[ZJ Penn]

- First batch of feedback from one of our biggest pieces of history to dates sees a complaint from the owner, about the man who he just gave up his title too. Johnny Knight followed up with the claim that him and Entendre didn’t click in their title match at Hot Lottery. It’s actually really strange actually, as you’d think that Knight would click with everyone, but he doesn’t more often than not. Can it be possible for a worker to be ‘too good’ for the rest of the roster? Our other news is that of some changes in overness, as Doug L. Entendre jumped 7% to get back into contention for the accolade of our biggest heel. His current rivals to that title at the moment being Doberman on the same amount of overness, Matt Wrestler on 43 and his new partner Quinton Tresting on 32. Still the number one face by a large margin is obviously Johnny Knight, with a rating of 52 in overness. He is followed from far away by Hugh Lose on 37, a large increase for the former jobber, and White Rain, who is slowly gathering momentum on 21. Outside of the company and just prior to the end of August, promotion NWAPWX fell to small level, then went bankrupt a day later. W-1 also fell to small, with their owner J. Victory quitting from his position as owner. Not to worry though, as Gary Yap soon took over in that position, making his new position of power felt with a number of small firings and signings that were of no relevance to me.

- News straight from September now, as Hugh Lose celebrated his 25th birthday with the dream that he might be able to keep up this little streak he’s been on lately with Hot Shot Wrestling, we shall see. Also Monsther and Gran Markus Jr. both announced their retirement at the end of the month. In an unexpected move, WWE rehired one of pro wrestling’s most famous gays, Chris Kanyon, despite him bitching about them for months. Strange, no? Also they gave a development deal to Donovan Morgan, who is being touted as the next Chris Benoit, who is obviously now retired. CMLL also became the third nationally recognised promotion in North America, Canada and Mexico...which I’m sure doesn’t make sense, but there you go. They were quickly followed by UWA, who rose to cult level to fill their spot.

Nevertheless, we move onto our first show with the new champion fairly in place and Knight baying to get the belt back. It’s time for “Dead Heat”…

Main Event: Doug L. Entendre Vs Johnny Knight (Hot Shot Championship)??? – Last month witnessed the biggest shock in HSW’s short history, as not only did Doug L. Entendre return from his suspension for referee abuse, but he did it with aplomb – beating Johnny Knight in a Last Man Standing match for the Hot Shot Championship, aligning himself with fellow arrogant snob Quinton Tresting along the way. While Knight will surely expect to be given a rematch for the belt, now that Entendre is the ‘Hot Shot’ of the company, can he rely on the Champion to give him one?

Doberman Vs Hugh Lose – It’s a clash of the streaks tonight, as Doberman and Hugh Lose meet one-on-one. Lose has lost only his HS Championship match to Johnny Knight in the last three months, beating White Rain and Mastodon on route. Doberman on the other hand, has beaten Matt Wrestler twice in as many months, before losing to Wrestler in a three way for a title opportunity, a match also featuring Hugh Loses last defeat too, barring the aforementioned Knight match. Tonight, will one of these streaks come to an end?

White Rain Vs Matt Wrestler – Wrestler has losses in successive months, from his title match defeat three months ago at ‘Baptism of Fire’, through to his two defeats to the masked Doberman means that the heel with the most heat on our roster is reduced to an opening slot against the man who is now filling Hugh Loses shoes as perennial jobber. That’s what you get when you refuse to sign a written contract.

[JYoung]

This has been a great read so far. The stories have good character development, which is always the plus of having your own federation and the ability to create your own stars.

As pointed out earlier, the comparison to Golden Boy wrestling is a good one, but I like yours better because it's not an obvious tongue-in-cheek diary. However your sense of humor does carry the diary (Doug L. Entendre's "ooo-ers" are classic).

Keep up the good work.