Plankton

FWE Podcast:

Styles: Fans, welcome to the FWE Podcast. I’m Joey Styles along with Kevin Kelly and Tracy Smothers. Let’s get right down to business and talk about Evolution. We could spend this entire time talking about just this one show, but there’s so much news to cover that we need to make sure we keep it somewhat brief. Kevin Kelly, for you, what was the match of the night?

Kelly: CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana. There were a lot of great matches, but this was had the emotion and intensity that made it one of the best matches I have ever seen in my life. This isn’t just match of the night, this may end up being match of the year.

Styles: How about you, Smothers?

Kelly: I loved the Jericho vs. Liger match, but I agree with Kevin. Cabana vs. Punk was one of the best matches I have ever seen in my career.

Styles: You’ll hear no arguments from me. But let’s go on to what I would say is clearly the elephant in the room at this moment. Dan Maff beats Brock Lesnar in a hellacious Unsanctioned match. Personal opinions aside, Maff put forth a hell of an effort. But after the match, Don Callis announces that this week on Chaos, Lesnar will face Necro Butcher in a Death Match. That’s not a huge surprise since he had pretty much been suggesting it from the start, probably to psyche Brock out. But then he dropped a bombshell and said that if Brock lost, Dan Maff would be hired by the FWE. Now I know Callis had free reign over stipulations, but isn’t there something that the FWE can do about this?

Kelly: I think when you consider the fact that Don Callis clearly has people in the back working for him, you can see how much of a chore it might be to get that reversed. It was an oversight on the FWE’s part to not set any limitations. I’m sure no one thought he would throw something like that out there. But even so, to overturn something like that, you can’t have much descent. If there’s descent, the process is lengthened, it becomes more difficult because you have less than a week to resolve it, and it’s easy to let it slide, especially if the people working for Callis have a lot of power, which at this point, I would assume is true.

Styles: But if he can get this passed, why not just say if Butcher wins, Callis gets to hire and fire whoever he wants? Or Callis gets to be at the head of the booking committee again? If the political system in the FWE is so corrupted, why didn’t he just do something ten times as extreme?

Kelly: I don’t believe it is that extreme though. This is how far he could push it, and even that’s debatable. It’s not Thursday yet. It’s only Monday morning as of this recording, so it could still get overturned.

Styles: But from everything I’ve heard, it’s not going to get overturned.

Kelly: It doesn’t look like it, no.

Smothers: You two might be looking over one thing. That was a hell of a match. Maff stepped it up. Brock Lesnar is one of the best pure athletes in the business. He’s a former WWE Champion, one of the youngest stars to ever get to that point, and he’s dominated in the FWE. And Maff—now he’s a great wrestler—but this is a guy who clearly has not ever been on that level. But he beat Brock. Beat the hell out of him. Don’t you think some of the officials were in the back thinking, “Hey, this guys is pretty damn good and people will pay to see him”?

Styles: Where is the ethics in that? You know why this guy was blackballed.

Smothers: Money talks.

Styles: I don’t know.

Kelly: I think what Tracy is saying is that even though politics may be influencing this whole situation, greed is too.

Smothers: Exactly.

Styles: Well, no matter the reasons, Dan Maff is just one match away from being a part of the FWE, and I cannot say that I’m happy about it. I would feel confident about Brock’s chances, but here’s something we just learned this morning: Lesnar is injured. His neck has not fully healed and doctors have told him not to compete. However, because of the contract Don Callis wrote up, Brock either wrestles or loses by forfeit. And if you know anything about Brock Lesnar, you don’t even have to ask what his decision was. The match is on and it looks like it’s going to be interesting. A Death Match, fans. This is not a hardcore match. This is a Death Match. Glass, barbed wire, tacks. You name it, they’ll bring it. Necro Butcher has wrestled many of these matches and Brock Lesnar has wrestled zero.

Smothers: Still, if you are a pure wrestler, you have the ability to adapt. I think Brock can adapt.

Styles: But this is the Necro Butcher. This guy has made a career out of wrestling Death Matches.

Smothers: But Brock Lesnar has made a career—and a much better one than most—at winning matches at any cost. I’m not trying to put anyone down, especially Butcher, because he put on a great effort Sunday night and showed he was versatile, but Lesnar is in a whole different world than most of these guys in this promotion. He could still win even with the injury.

Kelly: I’m not as confident, but I do agree. Lesnar is maybe the most versatile guy in this promotion. The neck is the only thing that will get in his way.

Styles: I think both of you guys are underestimating Necro Butcher, especially considering his win against Bryan Danielson, but we’ll see how it goes Thursday night. But speaking of the Danielson vs. Butcher match, Bryan Danielson has also been ordered by doctors to take it easy and he will not be competing Thursday night.

Kelly: No surprise there. He was clearly in bad condition, especially going into that match injured.

Styles: Danielson will be back for our first show in December though, so it looks like this is more of a precautionary measure than anything else.

Smothers: Joey, now I know we need to move on, we gotta talk about the Tag Team Champions, but I just want to make sure we devote time to discussing that huge victory by Davey Richards. Richards stepped up. Guerrera came in and, for my money, he looked better than I’ve ever seen him, and Richards still managed to beat him. I don’t think Guerrera is dead in the water. That’s clearly not the case. But man, Richards stepped up.

Styles: No doubt about that. And like you said, Guerrera is not dead in the water. He has a big match against David Andrews set for Chaos and Davey Richards will have an opportunity to capitalize on his win by wrestling the winner of the Four Corners match, BJ Whitmer.

Kelly: That’s a big opportunity for both guys. Whitmer and Richards could both easily break out big this month, but a loss Thursday night will delay that.

Styles: You don’t think the loser of that match could rebound?

Kelly: Not in time to secure a big time match for the arena show at the end of the month. Sure, if they still get booked for every show this month, a loss here wouldn’t kill them as long as they did well at the remainder of the shows, but the arena shows get booked in advance, so you have to be on your game. A win here is crucial.

Styles: Good point there. We have to move on though. I’d feel horrible if we had to rush through this next one in a matter of seconds. In what has to be considered an upset, The Trinity of John Walter and Chad Collyer defeated The Stampede Bulldogs to become the first ever FWE Tag Team Champions. And if you look at these guys’ careers in the FWE, they are maybe the most unlikely winners. When both of them came in as singles wrestlers, they had such a difficult time winning any matches. They put forth great efforts, but they had no momentum. Then they formed The Trinity with Michael Modest and still had difficulties winning. It wasn’t until that massive Tag Team Survivor Match that they found their groove, and just in time too.

Smothers: They really pulled things together after that Survivor Match, but the fact that they did that, in retrospect, shows that maybe we shouldn’t have been so surprised with this win. Guys who break through at the most crucial times in their careers are guys who show that they not only have what it takes to win, but that they will make sure that they use those skills when needed. Some guys just choke. John Walters and Chad Collyer are two guys who definitely do well under pressure.

Kelly: And if you look at their strategy, they were well-prepared. They worked as a team that whole time. Their performance was a classic example of how a tag team that works well together will almost always beat teams who work more independently. What I saw from The Bulldogs was two great wrestlers who were wrestling the match on their own individual terms. The cohesiveness wasn’t there last night. Harry Smith and TJ Wilson may very well be the two best wrestlers out of the four, but The Trinity was the best tag team. There’s a big difference.

Styles: I’m not sure how much respect there is out there for Walters and Collyer as individuals, but as a tag team, I can guarantee you, they have gained a lot of respect.

Smothers: What I’m disappointed in is that they have not been booked for a title defense for Thursday night. The Bulldogs and Masada and Hernandez will wrestle in a #1 Contender Match, but no title match disappoints me.

Styles: That’s very true. The FWE has given them a night off, but we’re being told it’s in preparation for a slew of title defenses. They have a week to get prepared, because we’re going to see if they truly deserve those titles. Backing up here though, we briefly mentioned the Juventud Guerrera vs. David Andrews match. Like Juventud’s last match, a lot is at stake. A second loss for Guerrera could put him in a very bad spot, and a win for Andrews is exactly what he needs.

Smothers: A second straight loss to a rookie would be very bad for Guerrera. If he does indeed lose, I would give him one or two more opportunities in the FWE, Joey. A losing streak for a veteran is not a good place to be in. We’ve already seen several veterans here in the FWE get passed up because they couldn’t keep up. Obviously, that’s been the case with some rookies as well, and wrestlers from both side of the fence have been doing very well, but the bottom line is, your status as a veteran alone isn’t going to keep you here.

Styles: Speaking of veterans, The Two Towers will face off against Vader and Josh Daniels on Chaos. There will be a lot of experience in that ring and you know that Daniels is a guy who is always learning in matches, whether it’s from his partner or his opponents.

Kelly: I’m very interested in this match. Luger and Windham have found new life as a tag team and the Vader/Daniels relationship is very intriguing because Tony Kozina is not too far from returning from his injury. He’s only about a month or two away from getting cleared. Tensions are obviously high, but both men what to stick it out. A loss here could be very detrimental to their future.

Smothers: I also wonder if Abdullah will get involved. I’ve been hearing Luger and Windham talk a lot of garbage about him and that’s definitely going to come back to him, I would think.

Styles: Abdullah shows no constraint, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t interfere. The FWE has been pretty vocal about how they are not happy with those circumstances, which I think reeks of politics, since The Chosen have gotten away with worse.

Kelly: Political or not, Abdullah needs to be contained.

Smothers: It’s never comfortable being in a situation where you know one of the wrestlers is a loose cannon. I like Abdullah. The guy’s a legend. But I want him to stop doing what he’s doing so that he’ll actually get booked for matches again, so he needs to be dealt with.

Styles: Moving on, two big matches have been announced. Jushin Liger will face a member of The Chosen in a singles match and so will Matt Stryker. Before we go onto that, let’s talk about that huge Liger vs. Jericho match where Jushin Liger turned into his alter ego, the much more aggressive and underhanded Kishin liger.

Kelly: Jushin Liger has only wrestled as Kishin twice in his career and both were because of extreme circumstances. When you have a group of guys continuously trying to ruin your career, that’s an extreme circumstance. But even so, I was completely shocked, Joey. Completely shocked. I saw a side of Liger that I never thought I would see in the FWE. I’m not just talking about the face paint and the persona, but his actions. It was truly a great moment.

Smothers: I’m not sure a lot of people have realized this or not, but this also solves Liger’s mask problem, possibly for good. As far as anyone knows, Liger’s going to put that face paint on for every match. That means two things. One, if you unmask him, it won’t matter. His face is still covered. And two, if you unmask him, you’ll have to fight Kishin Liger. The Jushin Liger persona is nothing to laugh at, but the match you are wrestling is going to change on a dime. Kishin’s a brawler, and an unpredictable one. They are literally almost like two different people. And you don’t want to go into a match preparing for two people like that.

Styles: That’s true. The efforts to unmask Liger apparently will cease. Don Callis said Thursday night is their last stand. They want to take Liger and Stryker out. The FWE has expressed an interest in putting Liger and Stryker in higher profile matches and their feud with The Chosen has made that very difficult. So this is the last stand, fans.

Kelly: You have to wonder what “taking them out” means. Will they try to injure them like they did in the past? Or do they just want to defeat them? Tracy talked about how you need victories to stay in this promotion and because of this feud, Liger and Stryker haven’t had a ton of victories. Despite his great effort, Liger lost last night. Another loss Thursday night may put him in a rut he cannot get out of.

Styles: Another good point. Liger and Stryker may be at a disadvantage too. Since Maff isn’t even a part of this company and Butcher, Masada, and Hernandez are already booked, you have to expect their opponents to either be Jack Evans or Chris Jericho. But who will wrestle who? We’ll find out the day of the show, but you would have to guess that Jericho would be the safest bet against Liger since he has beaten him several times now. Chances are he won’t be too happy about all of this. He’s expressed interest in moving into the title picture, so we’ll see how he reacts. But again, fans, we have to move on. We have to get things going for time purposes. Another big match for this Thursday will be Colt Cabana vs. Doug Williams.

Smothers: This one should be good. These guys both showcase the European style of wrestling so well.

Styles: And this one could have huge ramifications down the line. Cabana scored maybe the biggest victory of his career in what we already talked about was a great match. His reward is an opportunity against one of the top guys, Doug Williams. But there’s also a lot at stake for Williams. A third loss in a row could put him in a bad position.

Smothers: Cabana is on the upswing and Williams is trying to recover. There’s also the CM Punk factor. Punk cannot be happy about his loss and the fact that Colt Cabana stole his own moves.

Kelly: Does anyone really own a move though?

Smothers: Not literally. Of course not. But he didn’t just do Punk’s moves. If you watch the match again, he does the moves in a way that Punk would. There are subtle differences. And like I said, if you watch that match again, he’s mimicking Punk in every way. Cabana’s style was still in there. No doubt. But he was mimicking Punk. And that’s just disrespectful. It’s beyond disrespectful, especially considering who they are and how they trained together. He didn’t just use Punk’s move and he didn’t just beat Punk. He beat Punk using his moves. That’s sending a message that Cabana is better at being CM Punk than CM Punk is.

Styles: So it’s mind games again.

Smothers: Totally.

Styles: We talk a lot about wins and losses having a major part in whether or not you are booked. The amount of time we have for each show is limited, so one big loss could keep you off of TV for a week, and that’s what has happened to CM Punk. But he will be there Thursday night. You can almost guarantee a confrontation.

Kelly: Let’s move on to the Heavyweight title situation, Joey. Both Ric Flair and Michael Modest are not booked for Thursday night. Like with The Trinity, they’ve been given the night off. But if we know anything about Flair, we know he’ll make an appearance for the fans. But I want to know why Michael Modest has not been booked. He put forth a great effort, and even if he lost, I think he should be booked.

Styles: I couldn’t agree more. But word has it that Michael Modest is being considered for a rematch. You know, this is just speculation on my part, so maybe I’m wrong, but maybe they don’t want to commit to any course of action before they make their decision.

Smothers: I think if that’s the real reason, it’s not a good one. You need to compete here on a regular basis if you’re going to be in the title picture. If you lose a match, then you didn’t deserve to get that shot in the first place.

Styles: I think the reasoning is that if he is in line for a shot, then they want to make sure he’s wrestling to competitors so that if he is beaten, then this other person is looked at also as a top competitor.

Kelly: I agree. It’s careful thinking on their part. If they have him in line for a shot, you want him wrestling top guys like Doug Williams and Chris Jericho. If they beat him, there’s little doubt that they should be in his place. If he wrestles someone like, say, Matt Stryker or David Andrews, there’s a lot of doubt there. They’re great athletes, but one big win isn’t enough to clear all of the doubt. They need a few big wins. So it puts the booking committee in a weird place if they still need a #1 contender and Modest is wrestling guys who may not be considered ready. If Modest isn’t chosen for a title shot, then yeah, he should be wrestling some top guys and also wrestles who could break through at any moment. You shouldn’t deny those other guys a shot at a huge career-changing win just because you’re on the fence on Modest getting a show.

Smothers: So no one should get a chance to wrestle Modest?

Kelly: It’s not a perfect reason, but I think it’s understandable.

Styles: Michael Modest will be there though, so we’ll see what goes on. We are out of time though, fans. There is a lot more we wanted to talk about, but unfortunately we can’t. Remember, the main event for Thursday is that huge Death Match. Brock Lesnar is going to go through the fight of his life. He may never be the same after this week. We’ll see you Thursday!

Evolution

November 26, 2006

Miami Florida

DVD Extra: Josh Daniels and Vader vs. The Chosen (Masada and Hernandez)

Once again, Daniels did the bulk of the work for his team in the early portions of the match. He and Vader tagged in and out, but he did most of the work. Daniels basically manhandled Masada and Hernandez. He looked especially impressive against Hernandez, as he was able to show off his pure strength.

However, Masada caught Daniels in a “decapitating” clothesline. Daniels played Ricky Morton and the match began following the tried and true beatdown-to-the-hot-tag formula. The Chosen kept Daniels in their corner and made a lot of tags in and out, showing off their growth as a team.

Daniels eventually made his comeback though after nailing a snap suplex on Masada. Daniels positioned himself so that when he hit the move, Masada’s legs would collide with Hernandez, who was standing in his corner, knocking him to the ground. Daniels crawled over to make the tag to Vader, while Masada had no one to tag out to since Hernandez was on the ground outside.

When Vader entered the ring, he destroyed Masada. His pacing was slow, but methodical. When Hernandez eventually got tagged in, he also dominated. After a while, Daniels was practically pleading to be let back in, but Vader had firm control of the match. However, once Masada was back in, he was able to hit a bulldog on Vader. The Chosen then took back control and eventually hit Total Elimination on Vader for the win.

Winners: The Chosen

Daniels looked extremely upset over the loss and left the ring without helping Vader to his feet.

[Quinn says: These guys stuck with the tag team formula that works and as a result, this was a solid, yet unspectacular match. It’s nothing to go out of your way to see, but it’s definitely a step above the FWE’s usual DVD extra offerings.]

Rating: ***

Joey opened the show by hyping the three main events. He said that tonight was the FWE’s declaration that they have evolved into one of the United States’ top wrestling promotions and that the wrestlers were here to make a statement that they are at the top of the FWE.

Four Corners Match: BJ Whitmer vs. Jack Evans vs. David Andrews (w/ Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo) vs. Doug Williams

Joey reminded fans that this was a one-fall match.

Once all of the guys were in the ring, Whitmer made sure that it was clear that he was starting out and that he wanted Andrews in the ring. However, Andrews went to his corner and refused to budge. Evans stood on the outside too and it looked like Williams was willing to start. Whitmer wasn’t satisfied though and he approached Andrews and grabbed him by the neck, preparing to launch him in the ring. Evans then springboarded into the ring and dropkicked Whitmer from behind.

Styles: It looks Jack Evans and BJ Whitmer are going to start this match!

Williams went to the outside as Evans controlled the match. Surprisingly, Evans actually kept the pace slow and relied on rest holds. Joey noted that there was probably some obvious influence from the rest of The Chosen, especially Chris Jericho. Styles also hypothesized that Evans was wearing Whitmer down so that when he began to hit his high risk offense, it would be more difficult for Whitmer to counter.

Styles: But you have to wonder if a strategy like that will go a long way when you have two other competitors to worry about.

Whitmer eventually seemed to be gaining a bit of momentum by using his strength to counter out of Evans’ rest holds, but before he could do any real damage, Evans tagged out to Williams.

Styles: That’s an interesting choice by Evans to tag in Doug Williams. The more Whitmer is kept away from Andrews, the more distracted he might become.

Williams and Whitmer started slugging it out to begin with and both got in some pretty stiff shots. Williams changed the pace up though when this strategy seemed to get him nowhere by relying on his European offense that relied heavily on smooth reversals. Whitmer was noticeably getting frustrated at this point. Every time he went for a huge move, Williams would reverse it into a pinning combination or something that just allowed him to escape the move.

After about a good four or five minutes into the match, Williams went to the ropes and Andrews blind tagged himself in. Like Evans had done earlier, Andrews nailed a springboard dropkick to Whitmer. Andrews then threw Whitmer into the ropes and went for a lariat. However, Whitmer ducked and when he came back, he nailed a flying clothesline. When both men stood up, they traded punches for a bit, which ended with Whitmer hitting a huge german suplex after ducking a roundhouse punch.

Styles: BJ Whitmer has finally gotten some offense in on Andrews tonight!

Whitmer dominated until Rotundo tripped him. Whitmer went to attack Rotundo, but Evans blind tagged himself in.

Evans and Andrews had a pretty good sequence together that relied on a lot of high risk offense. Joey wondered if Evans had ditched his original plans in wearing his opponents down after seeing so many tags already. He also put Andrews over as perhaps the most versatile of the four wrestlers, even if he was the least experienced.

Styles: He may not surpass any of his opponents in their respective styles, but he can certainly keep up with all three of them, which is something that none of them may be able to say.

Andrews, though, got the better of Evans not because of his skill, but because Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo were on the outside interfering. After a while, Evans got really sick of it, climbed the turnbuckle quickly, and with little warning, he nailed a moonsault on both Sullivan and Rotundo.

Evans then went back into the ring and he and Andrews began to wrestle again. As Sullivan and Rotundo recovered, some referees came down to help them up, and then forced them to leave the ringside area.

Styles: If you’re going to interfere in the match, then the FWE is going to escort you out of the match!

Andrews looked pretty angry about this and took that anger out on Evans. However, he soon tagged out to Williams. Williams came in and schooled Evans for quite a while with submission. But Evans was so squirmy, Williams could barely keep him in one hold for very long.

Evans managed to tag out to Whitmer, and Williams, seeing an opportunity to put Andrews at a disadvantage, tagged out to Andrews.

Styles: Well, instead of keeping Whitmer away from Andrews, it looks like Williams wants to make sure that Andrews gets the beating of his life!

Once again, Whitmer destroyed Andrews and this time the rest of The Brotherhood wasn’t there to help him out. Andrews sold every move like it was death and the crowd started to get really fired up. Joey talked about how Whitmer uses his body as a weapon and said that he could potentially score the win pretty soon.

But Evans made sure that didn’t happen. He got another blind tag, this time on Andrews, and nailed a spinning heel kick on Whitmer. He then hit an unassisted enziguri on Andrews and dropkicked Williams, who was standing in his corner. At this point the match broke down and Joey talked about how this was much more comfortable territory for a guy like Evans where things were a bit more chaotic.

Whitmer gunned for Andrews almost immediately and Evans hit a suicide dive on Williams. Joey wondered if Williams and Andrews would continue to wrestle without being the legal men. He also questioned how smart it was for Whitmer and Evans to target the two men who weren’t legal.

Andrews eventually nailed a huge brainbuster on Whitmer. Knowing that he wasn’t the legal man, Andrews tried to break up the Evans/Williams fight on the outside. He hit a tope on both men and dragged Evans into the ring. He then tagged Evans and went for the cover on Whitmer, but only got two. Andrews tried to keep the momentum going in his favor, but Whitmer eventually tagged out to Williams.

Andrews tried to play the submission game with Williams, but he didn’t get very far. He then started to target Williams’ arm, which would have taken away quite a bit of his offense if it would get injured. Since submissions weren’t working out very well for him, he tried to focus a lot of brawling-based offense on the arm. However, Andrews wasn’t able to make much progress, as Williams tagged out to Evans.

Styles: It seems like every time someone tries to focus on wearing one guy down, they just tag out to someone fresh. I don’t think that strategy will get anyone very far.

Andrews and Evans had two nice reversal sequences that didn’t gain either man an advantage. Evans then tried some high risk offense, but Andrews focused more on brawling and dominated Evans by throwing him around. Andrews definitely showed a more aggressive side to him in this portion of the match. He eventually slapped Whitmer on the shoulder to tag him in.

Whitmer looked really irritated, but he was definitely more collected now, perhaps because he could see the end of the match in his sight. Like Andrews, Whitmer dominated the smaller Evans. At one point both he and Evans were standing on top of the turnbuckle facing each other, with Whitmer’s back to the crowd.

Styles: BJ Whitmer may be going for a superbomb!

And indeed he was. After a few seconds of setting the move up, Whitmer lifted Evans up, but Evans reversed the superbomb into a frankensteiner that sent Whitmer crashing to the ground. Evans then went for the cover. However, just as the ref was about ready to count to three, Andrews broke the pin up.

Styles: Jack Evans looks livid!

The match’s structure broke down completely at this point as Andrews tried to attack Evans so that he could drag him over and get the tag and pin on Whitmer. But Evans fought back and the two brawled around the ring. Williams, who’s style definitely favored a more structured match, tried to interject by attacking Andrews. But as Whitmer came to, he snuck up behind Williams and delivered a stuff german suplex. Andrews then tossed Williams out of the ring and delivered a DDT to Whitmer.

Evans snuck up behind Andrews and threw him into the ropes. When Andrews came back, Evans hit a spinning heel kick that sent Andrews to the outside. Evans then started beating down on Whitmer a little bit and set him up for what looked like was a tornado DDT. However, Whitmer grabbed Evans legs and neck and lifted him up in the air.

Styles: BJ Whitmer is going for the Wrist Clutch Explosion!

Whitmer nailed the Explosion, went for the pin, and got the victory.

Winner: BJ Whitmer

Styles: BJ Whitmer has won another huge match!

[Quinn says: All of the guys knew their roles and allowed this one to be something more than a spotfest. Andrews especially looked good out there. Even though I appreciate the lack of random spots, it almost seemed a bit slow for a match with four guys. But a match like this is certainly nothing to discredit too much.]

Rating: ***1/4

Davey “Crossfire” Richards (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Juventud Guerrera

Richards came out to some boos and Juventud got a really good reaction. Joey listed his accomplishments in ECW, WCW, and WWE. He said that the best the world has to offer are coming to the FWE to compete and Juventud is no exception.

As the two had a feeling out process, Joey reverberated what had been said on the iPod show: That there was a lot at stake for both men. Juventud needed to cement himself in the FWE as something more than a stepping stone for Richards, and Richards needed a big win to be taken seriously as a singles competitor.

After the feeling out process got him nowhere, Davey busted out some of his shoot kicks. Juventud tried to deliver some of his own, but Davey was clearly the more experienced in this area. Richards drilled Juventud into the corner and then nailed a running elbow into his face.

Styles: And Davey Richards is just dominating Juventud in the opening minutes.

Davey tried to slow things down a bit, hitting a fallaway slam and applying rest holds. However, Jimmy Hart was yelling at him to keep the pace high. Richards obeyed with little hesitation. He hit a lot of quick, brutal offense that focused mainly on the neck of Juventud, with the tiger suplex being the culmination of his efforts. He went for the pin, but Juventud kicked out.

Styles: It looks like Juventud very well may be just a stepping stone for the young Davey Richards.

Juventud looked just about beaten when Richards went for the D.R. Driver (double underhook piledriver). However, when he lifted Juventud up, Guerrera shifted his momentum forward and caused Davey to fall on his back. Juventud grabbed his legs and almost got a three count.

When both men stood up, Juventud hit a wheelbarrow faceplant. He then took complete control of the match, hitting fast, high risk offense.

Styles: Juventud isn’t out of this one yet!

Guerrera was back in this match in full force. However, when he went to put the match away by lifting Richards up for the Juvi Driver, Richards reversed out of it and hit a reverse DDT. Richards then took control once more, this time being much more cautious in working on the neck. At one point though, he went for a Shooting Star, but Juventud moved out of the way. Juventud then went for his 450 Splash, but Richards moved out of the way. He then nailed the Go 2 Sleep 2.0 and signaled for the Shooting Star again.

Styles: That should keep Guerrera down!

This time Richards hit the SSP and got the win.

Winner: Davey “Crossfire” Richards

Davey Richards and Jimmy Hart celebrated in the ring afterwards.

Styles: Davey Richards has definitely proven a point here tonight that he is going to be serious competition in the singles division. But if nothing else, Juventud Guerrera has shown the wrestling world that he is not just a stepping stone.

[Quinn says: This was great stuff for just ten minutes. In the end, the neck work seemed meaningless, but both guys looked good. It’s nice to see that Juventud can still hang in there. I’m a little surprised that he’s gone back to the respectful Juventud rather than being crazy Juvi, but I guess that could all change.]

Rating: ***1/4

Bryan Danielson vs. Necro Butcher

Joey put over just how much both guys hated each other and plugged the iPod show, telling fans that they should check it out if they haven’t already to hear a good discussion on the nature of the hate in this feud.

Danielson was crazy stiff in this match. He just hammered away on Necro’s face with elbow smashes. Butcher took the beating almost pleasurably, which looked to somewhat shock even Danielson. However, Danielson wasn’t fazed, as he kept on hammering away. Butcher wasn’t to be outdone though. He took the beating and then came back with some wild punches. Danielson was clearly worn out from delivering so many repeated elbow smashes in a row that he had little choice but to just take the beating from Butcher as best he could.

At this point, Danielson’s strategy changed drastically. He went completely on the defensive, letting Butcher wear himself out. Danielson stuck to the ropes so that he could lean on them and preserve energy. Butcher was no idiot though and recognized the strategy. To counter, he started using cheap offense to anger Danielson. He poked him in the eyes and stomped on his feet to get Danielson to fight back a little. However, Danielson barely retaliated. Butcher then saw an opportunity to roll Danielson up and possibly get the victory that way.

This actually caught Danielson by surprise and Butcher almost got the win.

Styles: Based on the look on Danielson’s face, I don’t think he expected that at all.

Danielson then changed up his strategy yet again and went back to trying to beat the hell out of Butcher. Joey noted that Butcher obviously had more wrestling ability than some people give him credit for and it appeared as though Danielson had severely underestimated him. He wondered how that would affect this match.

Danielson tried to work over Butcher’s shoulder, but it was Necro himself who got the first big hit on a body part. Danielson had been hitting suplexes and making sure that Butcher landed on his side, so that more punishment was put on the shoulder. However, Butcher muscled out of one of the suplexes, lifted Danielson up for a suplex of his own (using his other shoulder), walked over to the ropes, and dropped him outside. Danielson landed on his bad knee that had been attacked last Thursday and clutched it in pain.

Styles: Danielson’s knee may be reinjured!

Butcher dragged Danielson back into the ring. At this point both men were working through their injuries. Danielson limped around the ring while Butcher avoided using his left shoulder at all cost. Danielson relied mostly on using his arms and brawling to focus on Necro’s shoulder. This meant that he also had to avoid lifting Butcher up. Butcher also avoided lifting, since it required shoulder strength, and spent a lot of the time trying to take Danielson down on the ground so that he could use his own knees to punish Danielson’s.

The match was essentially a brutal slugfest. Near the end of the match, it was apparent that both men were going for that knock out punch. However, Necro Butcher pulled a surprise out of his hat and went for a one-legged boston crab.

Styles: A figure four?! The Necro Butcher is using a submission?!

Danielson screamed in pain and slowly crawled to the ropes, when he did, he was just about out. He had used up so much of his energy and his knee was shot. Butcher hit him with a few stiff punches and then nailed the tiger bomb, which knocked Danielson out cold. Butcher went for the pin and got the victory.

Winner: Necro Butcher

Styles: The Necro Butcher has outwrestled Bryan Danielson! I never thought I would hear myself saying that. When Bryan Danielson comes to, you can bet that he will be livid!

[Quinn says: I was expecting something average, but these guys pulled out a great match. Butcher did more than just hold his own, but the match was built around his strengths. With both men’s injuries forcing them to rely on brawling, it made logical pure wrestling sense to have them try to punch each other out rather than go to the mat. Not that they couldn’t, but given Butcher’s nature and the hate in this feud, it seemed believable. Extra points for the stuff shots too. What kept this from being something huge though was Butcher’s on and off selling, which I sometimes don’t mind too much, but here, where so much emphasis was on those injuries, it was hard to ignore the fact that he pulled off the tiger bomb with ease. Overall, this is a can’t-miss match though.]

Rating: ****

FWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Stampede Bulldogs vs. The Trinity (John Walters and Chad Collyer)

Joey talked about how The Trinity had lost already in the tournament, so they were the underdogs tonight.

The early portions of the match were very fast-paced (something that didn’t change throughout the entire bout) and included a ton of tags in and out. Both teams wanted this win badly and it was obvious that they came ready to fight with everything they had.

After a while, Harry Smith and TJ Wilson began to act a bit more independently, while Collyer and Walters still relied on tagging in and out a lot and used double team maneuvers. Joey noticed this and wondered whose strategy would end up working better.

For a while, The Trinity’s did, as they were eventually able to isolate Wilson. They made many pinning attempts as they kept him isolated in their corner. This helped keep the pace of the match up high. It looked like Wilson was about ready to be beaten when he reversed a lung blower attempt from Walters into an ace crusher.

Styles: Bulldog Cutter from TJ Wilson!

Wilson got the hot tag to Smith just as Walters tagged in Collyer. The two slugged it out for a bit, with Smith coming out on top.

Styles: Harry Smith is on fire!

Smith started busting out suplex and power moves as Joey compared him to the Dynamite Kid and his late father, Davey Boy Smith.

But this more independent approach got the better of him. Since he was on such a roll, he didn’t think much about tagging in Wilson. Collyer was eventually able to nail a drop toe hold and tag in Walters quick. Smith still had a lot of momentum, but that was killed quickly once Walters and Collyer started tagging in and out a lot. It was very difficult for Smith to get any sense of momentum since the legal man kept changing so much. At one point, when The Trinity was hitting a double suplex, TJ Wilson just ran in without being tagged so that he could help Smith. But as the referee was forcing him back out, Walters delivered a fierce uppercut that sent Wilson falling to the outside. The Trinity then hit their electric chair drop/ace crusher combo, which Joey called The Guillotine Drop.

Wilson crawled into the ring to try and break up a possible pin attempt, but he was already a bit loopy from the uppercut, which made him easy picking for a second Guillotine Drop.

Styles: The Trinity has decimated The Stampede Bulldogs!

Collyer and Walters looked really smug as they took their time looking down at the fallen bodies of their opponents. Collyer then slowly covered Smith, but Smith kicked out at the last second.

Styles: The Trinity took too long!

Collyer looked shocked, almost scared. The two heels started to beat down on Smith, but Smith pulled out every last bit of energy he had and fought back like mad. He forced Walters to the outside of the ring and brawled with Collyer. Collyer, though, was able to hit a dropkick and sucked the momentum out of Smith’s comeback. He then set up for the Guillotine Drop and Walters came out of nowhere to hit the Ace Crusher.

Collyer made the pin and got the victory.

Winners: The Trinity

Styles: The Trinity has come back from a loss in the tournament to become the first ever FWE Tag Team Champions! But what a fight by The Stampede Bulldogs, especially there at the end. You can bet that they’re going to get a title shot soon down the line.

Michael Modest came down to celebrate with the rest of his stablemates. As they left the ring, he turned to the camera and said that they would have all of the belts by the end of the night.

[Quinn says: Another awesome effort by these guys. Collyer and Walters have found new life in their careers as a tag team. I always thought they were really bland as singles wrestlers, but their understanding of the fundamentals of tag team wrestling have made them a joy to watch. The Bulldogs, of course, are great too and Harry Smith sold that ending.]

Rating: ****

Unsanctioned Match: Brock Lesnar vs. Dan Maff (w/ Don Callis)

The cameras took us outside where Dan Maff and Brock Lesnar were entering the ring with no music.

Styles: This match is unsanctioned, ladies and gentlemen, which means that anything could happen. And we spent so much time on the FWE iPod show talking about the ethics of letting a guy like Dan Maff wrestle that we didn’t have time to address the stipulation here tonight. IF Brock Lesnar wins, he gets to book Don Callis is a match. And you can almost guarantee that it will come down to some type of cage match featuring Lesnar and Callis. But, if Dan Maff wins, Don Callis will book Lesnar in any match he wants. And word has it that Don Callis has been throwing around the word Death Match. There’s a lot at stake here, folks.

This was pretty much just a stuff slugfest. The match started in the ring, but quickly spilled out into the outside and by the fans. They used a lot of chairs, guardrails, the steel steps, and equipment under the ring to fight with. Maff kept his distance from Lesnar when he could and launched a lot of chairs from afar at the big man. And while Lesnar was a bit more traditional in what weapons he used and how he used them (chair to the back, throwing Maff into the steps, etc.), Maff was a bit more brutal. At one point he tried to gauge Lesnar’s eyes out with a monkey wrench.

Styles: Dan Maff us out for blood!

The severity of this match increased at this point. Lesnar was incensed with these actions and really started to nail some stiff offense. He took Maff back into the ring, probably to get him away from more dangerous weapons. Once there, he just plowed through Maff. However, Maff eventually got a hold of a chair, set it up in the middle of the ring, and back body dropped Lesnar on it. Lesnar grabbed the back o f his neck.

Styles: Dan Maff has hurt Brock Lesnar’s neck once again!

The match slowed way down now as Lesnar was almost incapable of fighting back with as much pain as he was in. Maff continued to pout on the offense. He went for a Burning Hammer, but Lesnar wiggled out. Lesnar then went for an F5, but Maff nailed him with elbows to the back of the head. Lesnar fell to the ground, and Maff lifted him up again for the Burning Hammer and nailed it.

Styles: There is no way Brock Lesnar will get up after that much punishment to the neck!

And Joey was right. Maff made the slow pin and got the victory.

Winner: Dan Maff

Styles: And this means that Don Callis will be booking Brock Lesnar in a match for next Thursday!

Just as he said this, Don Callis entered the ring with a mic.

Callis: Brock! Hey, Brock! If you can ignore that searing pain for a few seconds, I think you might want to listen to this. Because I’m going to take you somewhere you never thought you’d go. Next Thursday, on Chaos TV—you’ve been hearing that term Death Match, haven’t you? Well, Thursday night, you’re going to be wrestling my hired assassin, the brutal, the savage, Necro Butcher in his specialty—A Death Match! But that’s not the only stipulation. Because the FWE left me absolutely no restrictions on stipulations. And I guarantee you that their contract for this match and the fact that I still have just enough pull in the back will make this go through. If you win, Brock, nothing happens. You just survive. But if you lose… if you lose, then not only will you have been beaten into a bloody mess… but Dan Maff will officially be part of the roster. How do you like that, Brock? How’s that for a stipulation?

Callis did his trademark wide smile and left the ring with Maff.

Styles: Can he do that? How could the FWE allow something like this to happen? This is just downright unethical!

[Quinn says: There was some pretty brutal stuff here. Again, I’m no fan of brawling in the crowd and there wasn’t a ton of psychology thrown in, but a good amount of bonus points for the brutality.]

Rating: ***

Main Event #1: CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

Styles: This match has the potential to be one of the most brutal matches in wrestling history. Who knows what is going through the minds of these two young men tonight.

Joey put over their discussion on the FWE iPod show and said that Cabana’s motives aren’t clear right now, so it’s hard to predict what kind of match he will wrestling tonight.

The two men stared each other down and talked trash for a bit. Punk was definitely the more aggressive of the two. Eventually Punk slapped Cabana and Cabana retaliated with one of his own. Punk then delivered a punch and the two started slugging it out. They brawled all around the ring and even fell to the ground, still punching each other.

Styles: It looks like we’re going to get a war tonight!

But once they were on the ground, Cabana went for a pinning combination, which only got two. Punk immediately stood up and looked furious. He screamed at Cabana, “We’re going to fight tonight! You got that?” Cabana smirked and shook his head.

Styles: CM Punk wants to fight and Colt Cabana wants the win. The quicker he can beat Punk, the more he can humiliate him. And more importantly, the more he takes from CM Punk’s career.

Thus began their human chess game. The struggle was great for each man who wanted to play their own game. Colt wanted a wrestling match so that he could show that he was the superior wrestler. Punk, on the other hand, wanted a fight. He wanted to get his frustrations out on Colt. But both men were good enough at their craft to understand that if they were too stubborn and only approached this match in the way they wanted to approach it, then they left themselves susceptible to letting the momentum their opponent gained get too large. They knew they needed to be versatile tonight.

Punk was the first to compromise. He wrestled Cabana instead of fighting him. He matched reversals and showcased submissions. He was biding his time. He also knew that if he denied Cabana that quick pin, he would go on to whatever Plan B was, which was more than likely to outwrestle Punk. Punk knew if that was the case, he would leave himself wide open to Cabana pinning him if he didn’t try to play that game.

So Punk and Cabana wrestled. Joey noted how it was obvious both men knew each other like the back of their own hands. With every reversal came another, and another, and another. These men were even. They had trained together, traveled together, and fought together. They knew what the other would in every situation.

But this wasn’t want Punk wanted. He wanted a fight and Cabana knew that. And if Cabana couldn’t outwrestle him, perhaps the next best thing was to outfight him. In order to get the blood fight going, Punk needed to hit a big move. Punk managed to nail a climbing shining wizard and followed it up with a barrage on punches. Although neither man had yet to gain much of an advantage, they were both losing energy and Cabana took a lot of punishment here. The ball was in Punk’s court now and he knew it. More than that, he was winning at his game, which was more than either man could say for the opening portions of the match. But just when Punk began to feel somewhat secure, Cabana, who had been holding back a bit, nailed a huge roundhouse lariat that sent Punk twisting into the air. Cabana then took control. But he didn’t revert back to the wrestling match. He fought Punk. And he beat the hell out of him too. And that’s when it hit Punk. He wasn’t just beating Punk; he was beating Punk at his game.

The harder Cabana fought, the harder Punk fought back. The two were exerting so much energy. Every move seemed like a move of desperation.

Styles: CM Punk and Colt Cabana are unloading on each other! They are giving it everything they have!

The faster they went, the less they seemed to feel. Joey noted that one big move could take the other out at any second, since they were both going on pure adrenaline now. The pain would catch up soon.

The moves kept escalating, as each man began to hit their trademarks. Cabana, though, pulled out something that no one predicted. He nailed Punk with some shoot kicks to the legs and then one to the head. He then nailed the Pepsi Twist and locked in the Anaconda Vice.

Styles: Colt Cabana is using CM Punk’s one moves against him!

Cabana had the Vice locked in real well. Punk desperately tried to crawl to the ropes. Finally, he got a foot on the ropes and Cabana, with no hesitation, let the hold go and stomped the hell out of Punk. He then brought the exhausted Punk up to the turnbuckle. Joey noted that maybe after the surprise of having his own moves used against him, the pain caught up.

As Cabana set himself and Punk up by the turnbuckle, it became apparent what was going on.

Styles: Colt Cabana is going to hit one of the most dangerous moves in all of wrestling—CM Punk’s move—The Pepsi Plunge!

Cabana screamed as he hit the plunge. Punk’s head crashed on the mat and he looked like he was completely out. Cabana somewhat slowly crawled over to Punk and crossed his arms as he made the pin.

Styles: One, two… and three!

Winner: Colt Cabana

Punk was still out as Cabana got a mic.

Cabana: CM Punk… I’ve taken your career, and I’ve given it to myself. For all that the wrestling world cares, you’re did, Punk.

He threw the mic down on Punk’s chest and walked out.

Styles: Colt Cabana has claimed that CM Punk, as a wrestler, is dead. He has claimed to have taken his career. But this issue seems far from done, ladies and gentlemen.

[Quinn says: *****. There’s no way around it. Technically, this was flawless. This is the type of match I imagine these two have been wanting to wrestle with each other for some time and you can tell they have thought about it for years. Emotionally, all of the essentials were there and they told the story so well. You can probably find **** matches that are technically better wrestling-wise, but the story these guys told by their actions is something that is hard to match. Some people out there might call me an FWE mark by this rating, but this match was clearly on a level few reach.]

Rating: *****

Main Event #2: Chris Jericho vs. Jushin Liger

Joey talked about how Jericho had been trying to take Liger’s mask off for weeks now and once again plugged the iPod show, saying their was an interesting discussion on the psychology behind Callis’ goal in taking the mask off.

Jushin Liger came out in a white and black outfit. Joey talked about Liger’s history as the dark Liger and wondered if we would be seeing a more evil side to him tonight.

Jericho absolutely dominated in the beginning of this match. He wrestled a brawling style and Joey wondered if Liger would be able to go toe-to-toe with Jericho in a brawl. He said that if Jericho could maintain this pace, he might put Liger out with ease.

Liger tried hard to fight back, but Jericho would not let the match be anything other than a brawl, which was not suiting Liger tonight at all. Jericho finally hit a flying clothesline followed by a Lionsault. He then lifted Liger’s head and grabbed for his mask.

Styles: Chris Jericho is once again going to try to unmask Jushin Liger!

As Jericho struggled with the mask, Joey reported that The Chosen were keeping Stryker in the back and there was a big brawl.

Finally, Jericho got the mask off of Liger, but Liger had on black and white facepaint. Liger jabbed Jericho in the throat, stood up, and tore off his bodysuit, revealing a painted chest as well.

Styles: It’s Kishin Liger! It’s Jushin Liger’s alter ego, Kishin Liger!

Jericho’s eyes went wide and for a moment he was frozen. He then delivered some punches to Kishin, but Liger fired back with some of his own.

Styles: Jushin Liger may not be the most aggressive brawler in the world, but Kishin Liger sure as hell has no problem beating the crap out of you!

Liger was just insane at this point and managed to cut Jericho open a little bit hardway. His tactics were effective and actually matched Jericho’s in how underhanded they were.

Styles: Jushin Liger has gotten sick and tired of how Jericho has treated him and now he’s getting his revenge!

Jericho, who was completely caught off guard, looked terrified at first. But as the match progressed, with Liger getting in about 3/4 of the offense, Jericho came back more aggressive than ever. The two were just beating the hell out of each other inside, and sometimes outside, of the ring.

Styles: If there was any doubt that this feud wasn’t getting personal, that is being put to rest tonight!

Liger eventually got a huge palm strike that only got a two count. He threw Jericho into the ropes and Jericho was able to manage a desperate spear out of nowhere. Both men looked completely spent as they both stood up. Liger went for a brainbuster, but Jericho reversed out of it and nailed a german suplex. Jericho then hit the Lionsault quickly and went for the pin. However, Liger kicked out. Jericho then hit the Breakdown and pinned Liger. But again, Liger kicked out.

Styles: What can Jericho do to defeat Kishin Liger?

Finally, Jericho nailed a powerbomb and hit a third Lionsault. He made the pin and this time got the three count.

Winner: Chris Jericho

The referee raised Jericho’s hand, but he didn’t look happy at all. He still looked terrified.

Styles: This is definitely a match that Jericho will never forget.

[Quinn says: What I liked about this most was that this match was completely unique with anything these two have done in the FWE at this point. I never thought I’d see Kishin Liger perform outside of Japan, and it was a cool experience. I hope the fans in attendance appreciated it as much as they should have. These guys put on an intense brawl and Jericho’s facial expressions added a lot. Another homerun tonight.]

Rating: ****1/2

Main Event #3 / FWE Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair © vs. Michael Modest

Joey wondered why John Walter and Chad Collyer weren’t accompanying Modest. He also talked about the idea of both men not being familiar with each other and once more plugged the iPod show, saying that there was a big discussion on it.

The feeling out process was really interesting, as both guys were still holding back a little bit. Modest was noticeably antsy though, while Flair seemed to be a bit more relaxed. However, Modest got in a few amateurish suplexes and really schooled Flair a few times. After this, Modest seemed much more confident going all-out and Flair looked a lot less clam.

The pace of the match changed a bit once Modest kicked things up. He tried to bring a lot of heavy offense against Flair, but Flair preferred a slower, more methodical style. There was a struggle between the two of them to see who would get their way. Both were being quite stubborn.

It wasn’t until Modest nailed a big neckbreaker that things started to go his way. He began to work on Flair’s neck and wrenched the hell out of it. He relied on a lot of tried and true submission holds, like the camel clutch.

Eventually though, Flair gained back the advantage after a poke to the eyes.

Styles: It’s not pretty, but it works.

Flair then proceeded to chop Modest’s chest nearly thirty times. The fans were really going crazy as Flair delivered chop, after chop, after chop. After the chopping session, things went Flair’s way. He delivered a lot of his trademark offense and the fans were eating it up. However, after he started working on the legs of Modest, Chad Collyer and John Walters, with their titles in hand, came down to the ring.

Styles: Get them out of here!

Walters and Collyer didn’t do anything at first, but they were definitely making Flair feel uneasy. He was looking over his shoulder at them from time to time as he worked on Modest’s legs. After receiving an atomic drop, Modest clutched his right leg and called the ref over. The ref came to his aid to see if the match needed to be stopped. Walters then pulled Flair out of the ring and the tag team champions started beating down on Flair. Flair tried to fight them off, but it was no use. They rolled him back in the ring so that he was easy pickings for Modest.

Modest limped over to Flair, but as soon as he got close, Flair put him in a small package, but only got two.

This made Modest angry more than anything else. He dropped some elbows on Flair and went for a few pins that only got two. He signaled to Walters to distract the ref. Walters stood up no the apron, which caused the ref to run over. However, this worked to Flair’s benefit instead of Modest’s. As Modest grabbed Flair’s hair to lift him up, Flair low blowed him.

Styles: With all of this talk about familiarizing yourself with your opponents, how could Modest not see that one coming?

Modest dropped to the floor like a ton of bricks. Walters kept trying to distract the ref, but Flair punched Walters and sent him to the floor. He then got the ref’s attention and put Modest in the Figure Four. Modest hung on for quite some time, but Flair had him in the middle of the ring and he eventually had to submit.

Winner: Ric Flair

Styles: Despite the entire Trinity being at ringside, Ric Flair has regained his title!

Flair stood in the ring and celebrated as Modest looked on enraged.

[Quinn says: Yeah, with all of that talk about familiarity, how did Modest not see that one coming. I guess you could blame it on cockiness, but I don’t know; I would have liked to see that part of the story played up on a bit more. These guy put on a really good show though and Flair definitely knows how to keep the crowd going. With the fishy ending, this didn’t feel like the Flair vs. Modest match, so maybe there’s still time to play up on all of the things they have set up for themselves. Great effort, great match.]

Rating: ***1/2

Overall Rating: 81

FWE News Update:

-The competitors for the Four Corners Match have been announced. As previously reported, the loser of the Doug Williams vs. Michael Modest match would be added in, which means that Doug Williams is the first wrestler to be officially included. With him will be BJ Whitmer, who dominated in his match against Derek Wylde. Jack Evans joins them after an impressive showing with Jericho against Jushin Liger and Matt Stryker. Stryker also impressed, but Evans secured his spot by scoring the pinfall on Stryker. Lastly, in what may seem like a surprise, David Andrews has been added to the match. FWE officials felt he was very impressive against the much more experienced Ric Flair and, even though he did not win the match, he earned a spot.

-There is no more news to report other than that this will be fewer full-blown news reports in the future. On Saturday, just a day before Evolution, the FWE website will debut their iPod show, which will be available in audio and video. There will also be a transcript of the show up. The show will be hosted by Joey Style, Kevin Kelly, and Tracy Smothers.

I always wanted to see the 80's sequel, "Return To Oz". It's supposed to pretty dark, and more comparable to the original 1900 novel.

[i want to thank VerbalPuke for the kind words he gave this diary in another thread. I didn't want to do it there so it looked like I was pimping this diary, giving the nature of that particular thread.]

Chaos TV

Local TV Station

November 23, 2006

Miami, Florida

Joey Styles opened the show by going over last week’s events. He also informed fans that FWE officials decided that either Bryan Danielson or Necro Butcher needed to be banned for one night only to make sure that they didn’t injure each other before their match this Sunday at Evolution and that Danielson was the one they chose. Joey said the reasoning they gave for picking Danielson was because they felt he was easier to control, but Styles thought that they were underestimating Danielson’s hate for Butcher and what he stands for.

BJ Whitmer vs. Derek Wylde (w/ Marty Jannetty)

Joey reminded fans that Whitmer has been in more opening matches in the FWE than anyone else at this point and Whitmer believes he should be at the top of the card.

Whitmer just unloaded on Wylde in the opening seconds of this match. Whitmer was clearly pissed off and letting off a lot of steam. Styles put Whitmer over as he worked over Wylde’s neck.

Styles: BJ Whitmer is an old fashion bad ass, that’s for sure. And he’s doing what he does best and that’s using his body as a weapon.

Wylde, however, did not just take the beating. After a few minutes of just getting destroyed, he nailed a thumb to the eye and then applied some rest holds to get his energy back. Once he had recovered enough, he started to hit some high risk offense that wasn’t so much flashy as it was really smooth and crisp. Joey put Wylde over as a future star in professional wrestling.

Wylde was really getting into a groove by hitting some innovative offense that was a bit akin to that of Kanyon and Nova. However, this momentum caused Wylde to get much too cocky and he started to spend time showing off to the crowd. Jannetty was yelling at him to focus. Unlike previous times, Wylde actually listened.

Styles: If Derek Wylde could actually manage to keep his focus, he could certainly go down in the books as one of the all-time greats. A win tonight would be a good start too since it could get him a spot in that huge 4 Corners Match at Evolution.

Unfortunately for Wylde, Whitmer was able to make a comeback. Wylde went for a dive off the top rope, but Whitmer rose quickly to his feet and hit a sidewalk slam that drilled Wylde to the ground and folded him up.

Styles: Whitmer may have won the match with that one move!

BJ went for the cover, but Wylde managed to kick out. Whitmer shook his head calmly and signaled to the fans that he was putting this match away. He lifted Wylde up to his feet and hit the Wrist Clutch Explosion for the win.

Winner: BJ Whitmer

Styles: It was a valiant effort by Derek Wylde, but I don’t think anything will be stopping BJ Whitmer until he gets the respect he deserves.

Whitmer approached a camera and told David Andrews that he was coming for him tonight.

[Quinn says: Wylde sold Whitmer’s offense well in this one and both men played up on the beating well enough that you really got the idea that Whitmer didn’t care if he killed Wylde. This is a good example of atmosphere doing a lot to tell a story. Wylde’s offense also looked really good. It’s smooth and flashy at times, but not in a bad way. It was nice to finally see him get to do something significant.]

Rating: ***

Jimmy Hart Promises that Davey Richard will Dominate

Jimmy Hart was backstage with Davey Richards. He said that Adam Pearce’s car accident may have put Lethal Connection to rest temporarily, but all that meant for Davey Richards was that he would dominate in singles competition instead. He put “Crossire” over as the hottest young talent in professional wrestling.

Hart: I’m not talking about just in America. I’m talking Japan, I’m talking Mexico, I’m talking Canada, I’m talking all of Europe. Davey Richards is the best this world has to offer, baby!

He went on to say that since Richards should have been in the tag title match on Sunday, he deserves a match at Evolution. Hart said that he had taken the initiative and made a deal with not only the FWE to get him that match, but also to bring in one of the top international talents around to wrestle Richards: Juventud Guerrera. He listed every title Juventud had won of the years.

Hart: But all of that isn’t going to mean jack after this Sunday, baby! Because the only reason I’m bringing you in, Juventud, is to show the world that Davey “Crossfire” Richards is the next big thing! This Sunday at Evolution, it’s out with the old…

He pointed to Richards.

Hart: And in with the new.

Rating: 59

Surviving Team Faces Stampede Bulldogs for Tag Titles: Onslaught Express vs. Josh Daniels and Vader vs. The Trinity (John Walters and Chad Collyer)

Joey explained that Michael Modest was not at ringside with his team because he was concentrating purely on his match with Doug Williams tonight. He also made sure to inform fans that this was an elimination match.

Harry Smith and TJ Wilson came up to the skybox with Styles to do commentary. They talked about how they were honored to be given a chance to compete in the FWE and how much they wanted to be the first tag team champions for the company.

Daniels was in high gear tonight. His offense was quick and fierce and he made very few tags to anyone. Once in a while he would make a tag to Vader, but would quickly ask to come back in.

Styles: Josh Daniels seems to want this win more than anything right now. It doesn’t seem like he wants to risk leaving the ring and giving one of his opponents any momentum.

Smith: He’s one of the toughest wrestlers out there, Joey.

Styles: And if it comes down to him and Vader, does that worry you?

Smith: At the end of the day, we want to wrestle the best to show that we are the best. So I think we’d be happy to wrestle them.

Daniels’ method of staying in the ring the entire time was starting to work against him as the Trinity began wearing him down. Unlike Daniels, they made sure to also let the Express get in on the action so that they could rest. Daniels still was fighting back though. Joey said that he seemed desperate and since Vader hadn’t quite cut ties with Tony Kozina, he wondered if Daniels saw winning the titles as sort of an insurance policy that he still had something big going on for him. Smith and Wilson agreed that this could be true, but they felt he was talented enough that it wouldn’t really matter; he’d still be a big part of the FWE either way.

After a bit of a beating from the Express, which mainly saw Daniels’ ribs targeted, Daniels got his second wind and german suplexed Parker near Vader. Daniels then tagged Vader in. Vader beat the hell out of Parker, who quickly tagged in Pawluk. Pawluk didn’t do much better. Instead of overworking himself, Vader saved his energy and tagged in Collyer. Collyer and Walters quickly went to work as Daniels yelled at Vader for not continuing the slaughter.

The Bulldogs put over both the Trinity and the Express. Joey asked who they would rather face out of the three teams, and they both agreed that they would like to wrestle the Express since they haven’t done so yet and they look at them as the other top team. They said they’d be happy with any of the three teams in this match though.

After a lot of back-and-forth action, Daniels blind tagged himself in when Walters’ back was to him. He came off the rope and hit a flying headbutt on Pawluck, who had already been in the ring for quite some time. He followed up with a variety of suplexes and stiff clotheslines. Joey made allusions to the Dynamite Kid and Chris Benoit. Daniels then climbed the top rope, hit a diving headbutt, and got the pin.

Styles: And the Onslaught Express have been eliminated! I think that would have to be considered somewhat of an upset, what do you guys say?

Wilson: These are all talented teams, Joey, so it could always go either way.

Smith: We try to only have expectations for ourselves.

The Trinity immediately attacked Daniels, not giving him anytime to rest or tag Vader in. They isolated Daniels for a few minutes and worked over his rib area. Walters eventually hit a Lung Blower, which Collyer followed up with a knee from the top rope to the ribs. Collyer made the cover and got the win as Walters kept Vader at bay.

Winners: The Trinity

Styles: At Evolution, it will be you two versus The Trinity. You’ve already beaten them once, can you do it again?

Smith: They’re tough opponents, Joey, but we want this thing bad enough that there’s no way we’ll lose. I guarantee it.

[Quinn says: Daniels was great here. The desperation and selling was convincing and told a good story. Everyone else did a great job too, but Daniels was in the ring so much, that it kind of hung almost solely on him whether the match was going to succeed. After the first elimination though, the momentum kind of died. Still, Daniels’ performance made it seem believable and the abrupt ending had more of a realistic feel rather than giving the impression that they just needed to take it home.]

Rating: ***

Lex Luger (w/ Barry Windham) vs. Abdullah the Butcher

Joey mentioned how the office was upset with Abdullah’s lack of regard for others’ safety. He hinted at how political things had gotten in the FWE when he mentioned how guys like Necro Butcher get away with just as much.

Butcher got padded down by referee Robert Brisko before the match to make sure he did not have his fork with him. When Brisko went to check near the crotch area, Abdullah stepped back and his eyes got real big. He looked like he was going to hit Brisko, so Brisko said he was weapons-free and backed away.

This match was shockingly good. Luger put on what very well may be his first exceptional performance in many years. He was selling Abdullah’s offense like death and even went the overselling route, ala Curt Henning. Joey made a few quick “insider” references and said things like, “I haven’t seen Luger take a beating like this in a long time” and “we may never see Luger in this kind of position ever again,” but would always follow everything up by talking about how Abdullah gave a beating unlike any other.

Windham’s shenanigans on the outside also helped the quality of the match. He was constantly trying to distract Abdullah, but clearly didn’t want to get too close to him. While most wrestlers may have added an unnecessary distraction to the match, Windham actually helped add value.

In the end, after a thorough beating to Luger, Abdullah got his fork out from the front part of his pants and hit Luger in the forehead with it, causing a DQ.

Winner: Lex Luger via DQ

Styles: It looks like Abdullah had that fork after all! But I can’t see things getting any easier for him with the office after this.

Luger, whose head was bleeding, was helped to the back by Barry Windham. All the way, Luger complained about Abdullah being a savage.

[Quinn says: Well, holy crap. I didn’t think I’d ever imagine giving 3 stars to a modern day singles match with either Luger or Abdullah in it, let alone one with them both. Yet here we are. Luger was actually great here, taking a few pages out of Flair’s book and overselling things just enough that it looks good, but isn’t ridiculous. Hey, if he’s capable of this, why isn’t he doing it all of the time? You can’t just give credit to Luger though, as Windham knew exactly what to do and when to do it. Abdullah just did what he does and these guys worked around it to make a pretty fun match. Some people are going to rate this lower because it wasn’t some kind of workrate wet dream, but these are the same people who have quit treating wrestling like it’s supposed to be fun and are looking at it more as a science or something. No matter what you think about Luger or Abdullah, this match was fun. But I don’t expect anything more out of them after this, because I’ll probably jut be disappointed. Still, if he can do this on a weekly basis, I wouldn’t mind seeing Luger in a higher place on the card. In the end, maybe that’s how he managed to pull this performance out. When someone knows they have one more chance to shine, they’ll surprise you. If he wants the opportunity bad enough, I could see it happening.]

Rating: ***

Non-Title Match: Ric Flair vs. David Andrews

Joey noted that Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo were actually in the back in case Whitmer tried to come down to ringside.

David Andrews looked extremely nervous. Joey said that he not only had to be anxious about the fact that he was in the ring one-on-one with Ric Flair, but he also knew that Whitmer was targeting him. He wondered if Whitmer had said what he said primarily to mess with Andrews’ head.

This match started out a bit slow, with both men being fairly careful in the feeling out process. Flair seemed more optimistically cautious, trying to get a feel for Andrews’ style and seeing what kind of risks he would take early on. Andrews seemed to be cautious for different reasons. He wanted to see how effective his offense was against Flair before he took any risks. Tensions started to rise, with Andrews being very serious and Flair being a bit more lighthearted, but perhaps less out of concern and more to get under Andrews’ skin.

Either way, the match started to pick up once Andrews nailed a nice dropkick to Flair’s upper chest. Andrews followed up with some nice, simple offense that kept Flair grounded. This didn’t seem to be taking a whole lot out of Flair, but he wasn’t able to make a comeback. Andrews was able to dictate the flow of the match and chose his risks appropriately. His first risk came after a back body drop. After Flair hit the mat, Andrews climbed the turnbuckle as quick as possible and landed an elbow drop. He then synched on a headlock.

Styles: David Andrews is playing this one slow. If he hits a few more big moves here and there, he could really have Flair in trouble.

After a while of this, Andrews started to get anxious. He loosened up the consistency of his offense and began to get more aggressive. He nailed a series of European uppercuts and started to brawl around more, leaving Flair with more opportunities to fight back. However, Flair didn’t. Joey began to wonder if Andrews had worn him down more than it seemed.

This didn’t seem to be the case though. Andrews went to the ropes and waited for Flair to stand up so that he could hit a missile dropkick. Once Flair stood up, Andrews took off, but Flair quickly sidestepped him and hit an elbow drop on the back of Andrews’ neck once he had crashed to the ground.

Styles: It looks like Flair was just waiting for the right moment!

Flair poured on the offense. Andrews tried to keep up, but he had been exerting so much energy while Flair had been conserving that Flair was always one step ahead. Flair started to work on the legs a bit and then applied the Figure Four. Andrews hung on for well over a minute, as Flair hadn’t worked over his legs that much. But after a while the pain was just too much and the Figure Four itself had done so much damage that Andrews had to tap out.

Winner: Ric Flair

Joey applauded Flair’s effort and talked about how he used strategy over pure athleticism to get the win.

Flair got on the mic and put Andrews over as the young man struggled to get up. He said that Andrews still had a long way to go, but also admitted that he was a lot closer to beating him than he probably realized.

Flair: But at the end of the day, Andrews…

Andrews had gotten up to his feet and was going to leave the ring, ignoring Flair.

Flair: Hey, listen to me, Punk.

The crowd popped as Andrews turned around with a sour look on his face.

Flair: At the end of the day, if you go around acting like the world owes you something, then someone’s going to get you what you really deserve. Guys like me, we can act like we’re God’s gift to this Earth, because face it, junior, it’s true and I’ve proved it over and over again. You have to prove it before you act it.

Flair went to shake his hand, but Andrews blew him off.

Styles: David Andrews just disrespected the biggest legend in this business!

Flair smiled just a little and shook his head in disapproval. The camera followed Andrews to the back as Joey said he was getting reports that there was a commotion. As Joey entered the back, he saw Rotundo and Sullivan lying on the ground, apparently having taken a big beating. Joey said that he was being told that Whitmer had done this. He added that Whitmer was almost certainly playing mind games now and was sending a message to Andrews.

[Quinn says: This was good, but it felt more like a warm-up before the real thing, which is appealing only to an extent. When they finally stopped holding back, the match was close to winding down. It’s certainly apparent that there is potentially a great match in there somewhere, but tonight they didn’t let it rise to the surface. Still, a very a smartly wrestled match that shows Flair’s abilities are less about what his body can do and more about psychology.]

Rating: ***

Brock Lesnar vs. Masada

Joey said the fact that no one was at ringside with Masada may be worse for Lesnar than anything else since, if there would be an attack, he wouldn’t be able to anticipate who it was and from where it was coming from.

These two worked extremely well together, with Lesnar getting in a majority of the offense. The match started out with Lesnar pretty much decimating Masada. Masada sold extremely well, especially for a man his size, which helped make Lesnar’s offense look even better.

But even though Masada worked his butt off to make this match what it was, Lesnar did his part too, clearly kicking it up a notch tonight. When Masada eventually gained control after nailing a sick DDT, Lesnar did a good job selling Masada’s offense. Masada started working over Lesnar’s neck and Brock did a surprisingly fantastic job at selling it. Once he had gained control of the match again, it was clear that his neck was bothering him, as he was constantly rubbing it and avoiding any move that might put stress on it.

Because of the damage that had already been put on the neck, it was easy for Masada to gain back control. He stretched the neck and hit a DDT here and there. Masada hadn’t gone for one pin attempt yet and Joey began to wonder if he was even worried at all about winning this match as he was about damaging Lesnar as much as possible.

Lesnar eventually gained control of the match once again. Masada went for another DDT, but Brock reversed that into a northern lights suplex. Once he hit it though, he quickly grabbed his neck in pain. Both men got up simultaneously, Lesnar looking in worse condition. Masada took a swing at Brock, but Brock ducked, kicked him in the stomach, and hit the F5. Joey put the F5 over as a move that could take someone out at nearly any given time in a match. Lesnar made the cover and got the win.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

As soon as Masada lost, Hernandez and Necro Butcher ran into the ring and started to beat Lesnar down, focusing almost everything they did on the neck.

Callis then came to the ring with Dan Maff. Maff had an intense look on his face. Joey mentioned how next Sunday may be Maff’s only chance to reenter professional wrestling, so he was probably willing to do anything to destroy Lesnar.

Butcher and Hernandez set Lesnar up in the corner and Maff hit his cannonball. He then followed up with the Burning Hammer.

Styles: BURNING HAMMER! That may be the only other move right now in the FWE that can rival the F5!

Chaos TV went to a commercial as Maff put his foot on Lesnar’s chest and screamed at the top of his lungs.

[Quinn says: This was another big surprise for the night. Masada was the workhorse here, as he held everything together really well. Lesnar was no slouch though. He kept up and thanks to Masada, he looked great. I’d love to see these guys go at it again.]

Rating: ****

Necro Butcher Punishes Bryan Danielson

Joey updated fans on what had happened over the break. The police had to come in once again and take Dan Maff away since he was not part of the company.

As the rest of the Chosen were leaving the ring, a fan with the hood of his jacket up ran into the ring and attacked Necro Butcher from behind.

Styles: Is that fan crazy?

But it obviously was no fan. He put the hood down and revealed that he was Bryan Danielson.

Styles: He was supposed to be banned tonight!

Danielson was unloading on Butcher and it took a little bit before Hernandez, Masada, and Don Callis realized what was going on. When they did, they tore Danielson off of Butcher and held him down for Butcher to stomp the hell out of.

Butcher manhandled Danielson for a little while, punching and kicking him around the ring, with Masada and Hernandez helping out here and there so that Danielson couldn’t fight back. Joey said this was cowardly and wondered how Butcher would do next Sunday in a straight up wrestling match against one of pure wrestling’s best.

Don Callis eventually brought in a chair and threw it on the ground. He looked at Butcher and yelled, “Destroy it!”

Butcher folded Danielson leg up in the chair and then repeatedly dropped knees on it. Danielson screamed in pain as Butcher tactically assaulted Danielson’s left leg. Joey said that maybe he was too quick to suggest that Butcher may not do too well in a straight wrestling match, as he clearly knows how to target a body part and take someone apart. He added that Callis had an obvious influence on the way he wrestles.

After Callis was satisfied with the beating, he led his men away. Referees and road agents ran to the ring to tend to Danielson. Joey said it looked like they had been too afraid to enter the ring while Butcher was in there, which says a lot about how dangerous he is.

Styles: Bryan Danielson is certainly fearless, but this was nearly suicidal!

He added that the Chosen had injured two of their enemies in a short amount of time just days before their matches this Sunday at Evolution.

Rating: 57

CM Punk Signs the Contract, Confronts Cabana

After the commercial break, CM Punk came to the ring with his new contract in hand. He had a mic with him.

Styles: We’re finally going to hear CM Punk speak!

Punk raised up the contract.

Punk: You know, I’m pretty damn sick of contracts at this point.

He looked at the contract.

Punk: But this… you know, maybe this one is the one I really want after all.

The fans cheered.

Punk: You know, I’m not going to lie; this was the most miserable week I’ve had in a long time. I went through my entire professional wrestling career knowing two things: That I can trust Ace Steel and Colt Cabana and they can trust me. Now I don’t have that anymore. I betrayed one man and the other betrayed me.

The fans booed.

Punk: And so I spent this week feeling sorry for myself. Like this was some sort of tragedy. But screw that. Because I’m CM Punk. I’ve overcome every obstacle that’s ever been thrown my way. I’ve beaten the best this world has had to offer. And so Colt Cabana, if you’re going to stab me in the back, that’s fine with me because I’ve wrestled traitors, mad men, legends, and everyone else that’s ever come my way and I’ve defeated them all. You’ll be no different.

Punk raised the contract again.

Punk: So here’s this contract already signed and ready to go. And I’m happy to oblige, Colt. Because you came out here and you said that I didn’t work my way to the top. You know that’s bullshit because I have the record to prove that I deserve. And I that you know that’s bullshit. Because this match isn’t about revenge for you or simply giving me what I want. You’re trying to make a name for yourself and you’re going to do it at the expense of the best man in the company. So you can take your…

Cabana: Whoa, whoa, Punk.

Colt Cabana came out from the backstage area surrounded by security. He had a mic and was talking as he made his way to the ring,

Cabana: I knew this would happen, Punk. I knew you wouldn’t get it.

Cabana entered the ring and stood face-to-face with Punk. Security was close by.

Cabana: I knew you would take it this way. Come on, Punk. We’ve been friends for a long time. You know me. We do things differently. You take shortcuts. I don’t. But this has to happen, doesn’t it? Let’s lay everything out, okay? I had to do this—why? Because you need to stop. Because you need to realize that, alone, CM Punk is nothing. Because if you don’t realize that, you would take advantage of everyone around you for years. You would end up like one of those sons of bitches up North. You’d be just another politician. What this is, Punk—everything I’ve done—is a malicious act to reach a selfless end.

Punk didn’t look like he was buying it at all and gave Cabana a cold stare.

Cabana: And so why did I do it they way I did? Why did I string you along? Because you have to see what you’re selfishness does. You’re that kind of guy, Punk. You won’t listen to people; you only listen to reality. So what do you do when your friend ignores reality at all cost? You show him the consequences. So what you did to Ace Steel is what you were inevitably going to do to everyone close to you. You were going to destroy their careers by using them only for your own gain. If I didn’t do what I did, you would be exploiting our hard work for years and keeping all of the gain yourself. That’s a fact, Punk. So I showed you what you really are because it’s the only way you would see.

Punk was starting to look a bit irate now.

Cabana: And so why the match? This is for me, Punk. This part of my plan, I’ll admit, it’s for me. Yeah, you want it. I know you do. That’s fine. And I’m not doing it to propel my career to a higher level, even though it will. You see, Punk, you stole from me. You stole my hard work to get you where you are today. And I’m taking that back. I’m not gaining something at your expense. That’s your game. That’s what you’ve done to others for years and that’s what you’ve done to me since day one. So I’m just getting back what I worked for. When I show the world that Colt Cabana is better than CM Punk, that Colt Cabana was the workhorse of the Second City Saints, then I’ll be happy. We’ll go our separate ways. I’ll pour all of my knowledge and talent into Don Juan and he’ll be a bigger superstar than you ever will, Punk, and so will I. I’ll have what I earned and I’ll have peace of mind. And then we’re even. Because I’ll get what I deserve and so will you. You’ll know, deep, deep down, that you are where you are today because of me. And every day after that, every day that you try and fail to get to the point I got you at—the point where you’re at today—you’ll know why you were there in the first place. Because of me. The only reason you have the recognition you do today is because of the reputation of the Second City Saints. That support is gone now and your decline begins Sunday. That’s what I want, Punk.

Cabana and Punk stared at each other as Punk took his time to speak.

Styles: I think Punk may be speechless for the first time ever.

But finally, Punk raised his mic slowly.

Punk: I don’t give a damn what you think about me, Colt. You used to be an exception, but when you stabbed me in the back, I realized that you were just like everyone else. And just like everyone else, you talk more than you think. If you want to bring what happened to Ace Steel into this, let’s do that. I haven’t talked to Ace since what happened, and I’m pretty damn sure that you haven’t since last Thursday, so let’s air this conversation out. I know the extent of what I did to Ace, and trust me, I’m not going to be able to let that go for a long time. But I’m not going to stand here and convince myself that this was all my fault. I’m sick of mind games, Colt. When you gave me this contract, we went way past that shit because now it’s time to deal with this in the ring. And as far as me destroying your career—I never babied you. You did what you wanted to and didn’t do what you didn’t want to. Don’t blame me for what doesn’t happen in your career. You did this to Ace and I let you manipulate it. That’s my regret. You can pass off all this bullshit about me taking advantage of your help, but at the end of the day, like I said, you’re just like everyone else. So we’re going to do this thing, Colt. This Sunday. You want a match? A real match? Then let’s do this. You told me “this is hate.” This is beyond that now. This is beyond revenge. On Sunday, you’re going to see a whole different side of me, Colt. I hope I see a different side of you, because if I don’t… it’s going to be a massacre.

Punk dropped his mic and the two stared each other down with security surrounding them as Chaos went to a commercial.

Rating: 92

Jushin Liger and Matt Stryker vs. Chris Jericho and Jack Evans

With only a few days until Evolution, Joey made sure to hype the hell out of the CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana match and said that it would be part of the triple main event spectacular.

Once all four competitors of this match were in the ring though, he focused completely on them. He talked up Liger and Jericho’s past encounters and said their match this Sunday could potentially be their most intense encounter yet. He mentioned how Jericho had tried a few times now to unmask Liger and how something like that could be very damaging to his career. He also mentioned the Four Corners Match that will take place at Evolution and said that if either or both Stryker and Evans impress tonight, they could get a spot in it.

The match started off with Stryker and Liger in complete control. They focused most of their attention of Jack Evans and basically beat the crap out of him. There was a bit of comedy thrown in, as Evans oversold the offense a bit. Jericho didn’t seem too concerned about Evans though and Joey wondered if they would be able to work as cohesively as Stryker and Liger. However, this concern was answered soon. After an extended beating, Evans eventually tagged out to Jericho. Jericho worked over Stryker and was able to keep him in the heel corner. Jericho and Evans then tagged in and out a lot and did fairly well as a team.

There was a big change in Evans’ offense too, as he was noticeably more confident. It wasn’t so much that his arsenal was different, but he was more aggressive and, as the longer the match went and the more apparent the effectiveness of his offense became, the cockier he acted. He started to talk crap to Liger and Stryker a bit more and even yelled at some of the fans who had cheered him previously.

One moment especially got Evans a lot of heat. Stryker had managed to tag out to Liger and now both teams were tagging in and out a lot. Evans had thrown Liger to the outside and nailed the space flying tiger drop into a hurricanrana, which got a massive pop. Evans played to the fans a bit, took his black wifebeater off, signaled that he was going to throw it into the crowd, and just flipped them off instead. He then used the shirt to choke Liger for a bit.

Styles: I think we’re finally seeing Jack Evans’ true colors. It doesn’t seem like he cares about his fans or sportsmanship just as long as he’s succeeding.

Jericho was definitely coaching Evans throughout the match and making him do a lot of the work himself. That’s not to say that his presence wasn’t felt. Whenever he and Liger were in the ring together, they were putting all of their effort into beating the crap out of each other. Joey noted that Liger was being particularly more aggressive than usual. The aggressiveness from Liger pretty much began when Jericho started trying to take the mask off when he had Liger in submission holds. However, despite Liger’s assertiveness, Jericho was much more forceful and dominated in their brawling sequences.

While Liger was having a bit of a problem with Jericho, Stryker did quite well for himself in the second half of the match, using his strength to his advantage. He did a lot of power moves to Evans and threw him around a lot. One notable spot saw him gorilla press slam Evans to the outside of the ring. He even faired quite well against Jericho, although for obvious reasons he wasn’t able to throw him around as much as he was able to do with Evans.

At the end of the match, structure pretty much broke down and all four men were in the ring trading moves back and forth, with Stryker and Evans being the legal men. At one point Jericho and Liger were brawling on the outside, with Jericho pretty much dominating. Jericho then got Evans’ attention and said, “Now!” Evans grabbed an already beaten down Stryker and hit a tornado DDT. He then climbed the ropes.

Styles: I think we might finally see the 630 Splash!

And Styles was right. Evans paused for a few seconds and then finally nailed his finisher for the first time in the FWE. The crowd went nuts, as did Joey.

Styles: Say what you will about Evans’ newfound arrogance in the FWE, but that is one hell of a move!

Evans went for the cover and got the three count.

Winners: Chris Jericho and Jack Evans

Styles: Both teams fought valiantly, but at the end of the day, it was Jack Evans and his 630 Splash that got his team the win.

[Quinn says: The last five minutes or so were great and Evans’ “new” personality brought some character to the match. I especially like his sequences in the early portions of the match. However, the moments where he spent jawing with the fans slowed the match down a bit. It was definitely good for establishing Evans as a heel, but it didn’t particularly help the match out a ton. But everyone gave it their all tonight and there wasn’t much to complain about.]

Rating: ***1/2

The Final Confrontation and #1 Contender Match: Doug Williams vs. Michael Modest

As Modest entered the ring, Styles noted that the rest of The Trinity were banned from ringside.

Joey said that Ric Flair definitely had to be in the back studying this match. Since there was so much attention lately with how familiar certain wrestlers were with each other, Joey made sure to put over how unfamiliar Flair is with both of these guys and how, no matter what the outcome tonight, he would be studying this match over and over again.

Styles: Flair has only wrestled Doug Williams once and Michael Modest was more than holding back last week. But tonight, you can guarantee that he’s going to give it all he’s got against one of his toughest opponents.

There was an extended feeling out process with neither man gaining any advantage because they both kept reversing out of everything the other threw at them.

Styles: In all my years in broadcasting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen two men so evenly matched as Michael Modest and Doug Williams.

There was a lot of back and forth action in the early portions of the match. Every time it seemed like one man was gaining a sizable advantage, the other would make a huge and surprising reversal to put the ball in their court. One of the most memorable reversals was when Williams had Modest in a side headlock. Modest tried to reverse into an atomic drop, but Williams tightened the headlock and went for a running bulldog. However, as Williams lifted his feet off into the air, Modest kept running and used the momentum to smash Williams chest-first into the turnbuckle and quickly nailed a german suplex.

It was after this reversal that Modest was finally able to gain some sort of significant advantage. He slowed the match down just a bit, as he chose his moves wisely and didn’t want to give Williams an opportunity to hit a big move. But his caution went only so far. Williams, being a very conservative wrestler, was much to used to this kind of game to be mastered by it for too long. In the end, Modest’s caution got the better of him. Without taking any risks or increasing the speed of the match, Williams was able to choose his timing closely and reversed an extended suplex into a huge DDT.

Williams then took control of the match and did something that he rarely does and wrested a riskier fast-paced match. Modest was obviously caught off guard by this and was dominated during this entire sequence. Williams then went for the Chaos Theory. As he hit the first german suplex, Joey was going nuts, saying that the match would be over in a few second and it just depended on if Williams would nail the second suplex or if Modest would reverse it into a stunner. However, Williams hoisted Modest up very lightly for the second suplex, not giving Modest enough momentum to hit the stunner. Williams then quickly nailed a reverse DDT, which planted Modest to the ground.

Styles: Williams added a new twist to the Chaos Theory! Williams with the cover! One… two… th—NO! Modest kicks out!

Williams looked shocked, as he thought his plan would definitely take Modest out. After a few seconds of disbelief, he started to put Modest in submission holds. Williams looked like he had little strategy at this point and was looking for a weak part of Modest’s body to work on. Joey talked about how Williams’ reversal to the stunner was really ingenious, as it protected his move. Now his opponents wouldn’t know if he was going for the Chaos Theory or the reverse DDT, so it made the move more unpredictable.

Modest was eventually able to gain the advantage again as Williams upped the risk. He threw Modest into the ropes and went for a clothesline. Modest ducked and when Williams came back to him, he nailed a sidewalk slam. He then hit a series of backbreakers, followed up by a german suplex, and a quick northern lights suplex into a pin for the three count.

Winner: Michael Modest

Styles: Michael Modest is going to Evolution to face Ric Flair for the FWE Heavyweight Championship!

Once Williams was helped to the back (a few of the backbreakers seemed to do a lot of damage) and after modest had time to recover from the long match, he asked for a mic.

Modest: Ric Flair, you just saw what I was able to do against a man who knows my style and strategies in and out. What do you think I’ll be able to do against someone who know nothing about what I can do in the ring?

Modest went on for a bit longer about how Flair didn’t stand a chance again him. After only a few seconds, Ric Flair came out with a mic and entered the ring.

Flair: If you’re as good at wrestling as you are at flapping your mouth up and down, then maybe I have something to worry about. But when I look in the ring, I see a man who may be experienced. I see a man who may very well be one of the best in the business. I see a man who’s doing pretty well against someone he knows in the ring very well. But what I don’t see, Michael Modest, is a man who can beat the man! Because when someone thinks they know everything the Nature Boy is capable of just because they watched what he could do in the ring, that’s when I’m at my best. I’m going to clue you in on something, Modest. Everyone talks about my age like it’s a handicap. But the truth of the matter is, I’m an even smarter wrestler than I was ten years ago. And when punks like you think I’m going to be easier to wrestle just because of my age, that makes me even more dangerous. So what you have to ask yourself going into next Sunday isn’t ‘am I in better condition than Ric Flair?’ And it isn’t ‘How well does Ric Flair know my strategy?’ The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘am I smarter than the best wrestler to ever step foot in a ring?’

Modest: And the question you have to ask yourself, Flair, is whether or not the wrestling world has passed you by. You can wrestle toe-to-toe with any man in this sport, and I believe that. But this sport has evolved. It’s evolved and what it comes down to isn’t whether you can keep up with my personal style. It’s bigger than that, Flair. Have you been away in that bubble up North for too long? Has this sport passed you by? I think what it comes down to is that this sport has evolved and you’re just barely hanging on. That title on your shoulder is the last title you will ever hold and you can feel it slipping away. You can talk all you want. And you can wrestle rookies like David Andrews week after week. But I ain’t no rookie. I’m Michael Modest. I’ve been knee deep in this business for fifteen years and evolved with it. You didn’t, Flair. And this Sunday, you will realize that evolution has passed you by.

Modest got up in Flair’s face as the two stared each other down.

Styles: Has evolution passed Ric Flair by? Will we see a new champion? We’ll find out this Sunday at Evolution!

[Quinn says: Definitely one of their best outings and a suitable end to the feud. Modest goes over and Williams’ move is protected in the longrun. I wasn’t wild about some of the slower portions, but they helped tell the story of the match. Great effort by two of the best around today.]

Rating: ****

Overall Rating: 67

FWE News Update:

-We’re a little over a week away from Evolution and we have a ton of news and updates about the big show and the next edition of Chaos TV. First of all, the final show before Evolution will showcase a huge main event that will declare a #1 contender for the Heavyweight Championship. Since CM Punk’s contract was ripped up by Colt Cabana last Thursday, the opportunity will be up for grabs and will be decided in The Final Confrontation between Michael Modest and Doug Williams. Both of these guys have been outstanding in the past few months and they will fight it out one last time for a chance at gold. They’re both worthy of a shot, but only one will get it at Evolution.

-While the Michael Modest vs. Doug Williams match will be dubbed The Final Confrontation, this is not to say that they will never wrestle in the FWE again. However, officials see both guys as nearly equal in ability and if the feud is allowed to continue the way it is, a clear winner may never be declared. So even though they very well may cross paths again soon down the line, this will be the last match officials will allow to further their rivalry at the moment. With so much on the line, both men will surely bring their A game and we may finally know who the better man is.

-Evolution is certainly shaping up to be one of the best shows in FWE history. Last week Bryan Danielson vs. Necro Butcher was signed, along with Jushin Liger vs. Chris Jericho. More matches have been signed as of today and the FWE has promised a night of main event-quality matches.

-Many people expected for the CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana match to be announced, but as of now, it hasn’t. CM Punk has apparently not signed the contract Cabana gave him last Thursday. There’s no word on why Punk has yet to do so and if he even plans on doing it at all. He has promised that he will be at Chaos next week and he will have the contract with him. FWE officials are advertising the match as a possibility for Evolution because Colt Cabana has assured them that it will go on.

-Emotions have been running high concerning the Punk/Cabana situation. CM Punk is reported as being very withdrawn since the incident and has talked to very few people. Cabana’s joking attitude has pretty much disappeared. He has been more vocal than Punk though, stating that he is not the bad guy, but has been forced into this situation. Cabana does seem on edge though, as he has requested security to follow him around at Chaos. Additionally, he told Don Juan that the FWE would not be safe for him for a little while. He has sent his protégé to Europe to hone his skills for a few weeks. Overall, the situation is tense and no one knows what to expect out of either man anymore.

-The FWE was saddened to hear that “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce was involved in a car accident the day after Chaos TV. He has suffered a leg injury and will be out for an undetermined amount of time, which will be lengthy at best. We wish Adam Pearce a speedy recovery.

-With Pearce out of the picture, this leaves not only the Tag Team Title picture in question, but also his tag team partner Davey “Crossfire” Richards without a team. The Stampede Bulldogs advanced to the finals and were set to face Lethal Connection, but now the Connection’s spot is left open. FWE officials felt that the natural course of action would be to give the Onslaught Express a bye since that is who Lethal Connection defeated. However, when Josh Daniels got wind of this, he protested, saying that he and Vader recently got an impressive victory of the Dark Rockers and deserve a chance to earn the finals spot. Officials agreed and signed an Onslaught Express vs. Daniels and Vader match; however, once this got out, John Walters and Chad Collyer protested, claiming their victory over Daniels and Vader in the tournament gave them the right to also be in that match. So, next Thursday on Chaos TV, we’ll see The Onslaught Express vs. Josh Daniels and Vader vs. The Trinity of John Walters and Chad Collyer, with the winner facing the Stampede Bulldogs at Evolution for the FWE Tag Team Titles.

-Jimmy Hart said he will have an announcement on Chaos TV about Davey Richards’ future and his involvement at Evolution.

-FWE officials have finally decided that they will address the Dan Maff situation. As many people know, Dan Maff was blackballed from professional wrestling for personal reasons that the FWE cannot and does not want to discuss. Maff is not and never has been employed by the FWE. However, because there appears to be some politicking by Don Callis going on, it does not look like the Maff situation is going to go away. Some people in the back have been campaigning for his official involvement in the FWE. That, combined with the fact that Brock Lesnar has asked repeatedly to wrestle him, has lead to the signing of another match at Evolution. We will see Brock Lesnar vs. Dan Maff in an unsanctioned match. This will take place outside the Old School Arena because it will not be an official part of the program and will be free to the general public. There are a few stipulations for this one. First off, if Brock Lesnar wins, he gets to book Don Callis in any match he wants. Lesnar has not been shy that he’s not a fan of Callis’ and hasn’t been happy about getting attacked by him. There are any number of dangerous circumstances that Lesnar could put Callis in and fans would certainly love to see it. However, if Dan Maff wins, Don Callis will be able to book Brock Lesnar in any match he wants. Callis has already begun bragging about what he might do and has even thrown the words “Death Match” around. Additionally, officials say that if Maff impresses, he may get a job.

-But Brock Lesnar will have to get through Masada before he goes on to face Dan Maff. The two will face each other Thursday night on Chaos. Not signed for matches are Necro Butcher and Hernandez, which means Brock Lesnar might have to watch his back.

-Another big match involving Don Callis’ Chosen has been signed. Chris Jericho and new member Jack Evans will wrestle Jushin Liger and Matt Stryker. Jericho and Evans just wrestled each other last week, so one has to wonder how well they will function as a team. Word has it though that Evans is fairly happy under Callis’ guidance and Jericho has been more than willing to work with him. Jericho is reportedly very happy that Evans is on board, as he feels Evans can take care of a lot of the jobs Callis has asked him to do. Jericho has made it no secret that his ultimate goal is to be champion and feels burdened by Callis’ requests. However, Jericho shouldn’t get too comfortable. He still has his match against Jushin Liger at Evolution and the team of Stryker and Liger is nothing to shrug off. Both Stryker and Liger have become great friends over the months and are committed to fighting off the Chosen.

-After his match tag match against Michael Modest and David Andrews, Ric Flair asked for a non-title match with David Andrews for this Thursday. Flair initially wanted to put the title on the line, but FWE officials said he needed to fully earn it. Flair was impressed by Andrews overall, but was very angry about the cheapshot at the end. Flair said he would teach Andrews a lesson on Chaos.

-Word spread quickly about Andrews getting a match with Flair and BJ Whitmer was fuming because just earlier that day Whitmer vs. Derek Wylde was announced as the opening match for Chaos. Even though Derek Wylde is talented and a rising star, Whitmer believes he has paid his dues and should be wrestling the top men in the company. He’s made it no secret that he hates David Andrews for getting what he believes is special treatment while he struggles to climb the ladder. To make matters worse, a few of the guys in the back were making fun of Whitmer for fairly consistently being an opening match guy, which dates back to the very first show. Whitmer was overheard on several occasions saying something about giving Andrews what he really deserves.

-In a bit of weird news, Bryan Danielson will be banned from Chaos TV for one week. Officials said that they are worried that the Butcher/Danielson situation will get out of hand and they want to contain it. While they maintain that Danielson was pretty much randomly chosen as being the one to ban, some are looking at it as showing favoritism to Don Callis, since Necro Butcher is part of his entourage. Either way, the ban is temporary and both of these guys will get a chance to unload on each other at Evolution. The first time they wrestled, it was in a hardcore environment, but this time, Danielson will get Butcher in a straight-up wrestling match, which is definitely out of the norm for Butcher. These guys simply just do not like each other at all and it will all come to ahead at Evolution.

-FWE officials have become frustrated with the Abdullah the Butcher situation. Butcher’s brawls are getting a little out of hand and he’s shown no regard for the safety of other people. He has been told several times not to bring his fork to the ring, but he’s refused. He’s been signed to wrestle Lex Luger on Chaos, but he could be released any time. He has many more matches on his contract and some people in the back are trying to keep him on board, but some are afraid of the safety of the other wrestles. More information will be given as it’s received.

-The last Evolution match to be announced is one that does not even have any competitors yet. Many fans remember the big International Four Corners Match months ago that saw Chris Jericho vs. Jushin Liger vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Doug Williams. In the tradition of putting four of the world’s best in the ring at one time, officials have signed another huge Four Corners Match. As of now, all four spots are open. However, we do know that we’ll see the loser of the Modest/Williams match in one of those spots. The other three spots are up in the air. Officials will be taking a very close look at this week’s addition of Chaos. If you’re not on Chaos to impress, then you will not be booked in the Four Corners Match. Results of the matches won’t be the only thing looked at though, as officials have made it clear a great effort could get you in as well. They are said to be very interested in the Whitmer/Wylde match as well as the big tag match involving Matt Stryker and Jack Evans. A win for any four of those men could be vital in getting them in this match. David Andrews and Masada will also be closely looked at and you have to wonder if Jimmy Hart will have something in store to somehow get Davey Richard involved. No matter who’s involved, this looks like it will be a great match with potentially huge ramifications for the Heavyweight Title scene.

-Just to clarify, here’s what the Evolution card looks like so far:

*FWE Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair © vs. Michael Modest or Doug Williams

*Chris Jericho vs. Jushin Liger

*Unsanctioned: Brock Lesnar vs. Dan Maff

*FWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Stampede Bulldogs vs. Onslaught Express or Josh Daniels and Vader or The Trinity (Walters and Collyer)

*Bryan Danielson vs. Necro Butcher

*Four Corners Match

*CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana (potentially)

-Assuming the Punk/Cabana match will go on as scheduled, Evolution will feature a triple main event with CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana, Chris Jericho vs. Jushin Liger, and Ric Flair defending his title as the matches billed at the top. This is going to be a great show. Make sure you don’t miss it!

John Swartzwelder's books are worth a look. You can read the first few pages on Amazon to see if they're what you're looking for.

The Time Machine Did It

Double Wonderful

How I Conquered Your Planet

Chaos TV

Local TV Station

November 16, 2006

Miami, Florida

Joey opened the show by hyping up the latest on the CM Punk situation. He read parts of the mysterious letter aloud and said that tonight we may find out who his attacker was. He speculated that Don Callis was somehow behind everything.

As soon as he said this, Callis’ music played and he came out along with Chris Jericho.

Styles: Speaking of the devil himself…

Callis had a mic with him. He started ragging on Jack Evans. He said that Evans had every tool needed to be one of the future greats: talent, charisma, a unique style no one could match. But he was missing something, Callis said; and it was the one thing that he overlooked when he had Evans signed.

Callis: Bottom line in, Jack Evans, you don’t have the determination to be anything more than a popular punching bag. When I begged the rest of the FWE booking committee to hire you, they told me you were too small. But I looked at guys like Chris Jericho here. I looked at Jericho’s career and I remembered when people said that about him. Then I looked at you, Evans and I told myself that you would take everything you had, everything I knew you had, and you would take yourself as far as you wanted to go. And last week when you were pinned by Don Juan, I realized something. This is as far as you want to go, Jack. Just a punching bag.

Jack Evans’ music played and he stormed into the ring.

Styles: Jack Evans has had enough of this!

Jericho stepped in front of Callis, but Callis told him to move aside. Evans asked for a mic from the ring announcer and was given one.

Evans: I’ve had about enough of you, man.

The Jack Evans’ fanbase had grown quite a bit over the past few months and a decent amount of people cheered for Evans’ finally getting some mic time and sticking up for himself.

Evans: You act like I owe you something. You act like I don’t come out here week after week and bust my ass. My win/loss record may not be the greatest, but you cannot tell me that I do not come out here and give it my all. Maybe a lot of close wins don’t mean much. But if you think you can come out here and tell these people that I don’t have determination. That I don’t have heart. Then I’m going to have to come out here and say something about that.

Callis had a huge grin on his face.

Callis: Oh, you do owe me, Jack. Because I got you this job. The only reason you’re here is because of me. And how about I let you in on another little secret: the only reason you’re still here is because of me. The FWE was ready to bail on you a long time ago. People claim that all of this influence I gained in the back is somehow manipulative and wrong. Well consider this, Jack: I used that “evil” influence to keep you employed. Because against my better judgment, I still think that maybe you could some day be this.

Callis looked over at Jericho when he said “this.”

Callis: A legend, Jack. You could be a legend. But you cannot do this without me. I guarantee it.

Evans: Do you know who I am?

Evans’ section cheered wildly.

Evans: I’m Jack Evans, bitch. I can twist 630 degrees in the air. I can dive further than anyone in professional wrestling. I can do whatever the hell I want!

This time more fans cheered.

Callis: And have you ever done that 630 splash in the FWE?

Styles: He has a point there.

Evans didn’t say anything back.

Callis: You’re going to prove something to me, Jack. Right now. If you really can do whatever the hell you want, then beat Chris Jericho.

Evans: Right now?

Callis nodded and with no hesitation, Evans did a low dropkick to the knees of Jericho that sent him crashing face-first to the mat.

Chris Jericho vs. Jack Evans

Styles: I guess we have a match!

Evans controlled the early part of the match much to the delight of his fans. At this point though the unofficial Jack Evans fan club was pretty much blending in with the rest of the crowd as Evans finally let his whole arsenal loose. He was hitting a ton of great, consecutive moves that were fast-paced and sent him in the air most of the time.

Styles: Don Callis has lit a fire under Jack Evans!

Evans’ sudden burst of confidence and aggressiveness didn’t last long though. Jericho was eventually able to nail a stiff dropkick to the face when Evans was coming off the rope. Evans sold the kick by spinning in the air.

Styles: Jericho used Evans’ own momentum against him!

Jericho went for the pin and looked pretty confident about it, but Evans kicked out at the last second.

Styles: Evans is still in this thing!

The kickout really pumped the fans up and Jericho was noticeably angry. Jericho controlled the match now and was being quite the bully with Jack. A lot of his offense was more centered around brawling and Evans sold like a pro. However, near the end of the match Evans reversed a standard delayed suplex into a killer spinning DDT. He went for the quick pin and Jericho kicked out just in time. Jericho’s eyes looked huge as he sat up, which indicated that Evans speed in the pin attempt had a lot to do with the near victory.

Styles: I don’t think Chris Jericho was expecting this kind of fight from Evans!

Both guys were going at top speed now, trying to outdo the other. They were clearly looking for the next big move that would take the other out. At one point Evans went up to the top rope and signaled for the 630.

Styles: The 630! We’re going to see the legendary 630 Splash!

But just as Styles said this Jericho, who had been playing possum, ran up to the ropes and made Evans crotch himself. He then nailed a perfectplex from the top rope and got the pinfall.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Styles: Jack Evans put up a hell of a fight, but Jericho used his expertise in the end.

Callis entered the ring with a mic and helped the recovering Jack Evans up.

Callis: You can do whatever you want, Jack. But you can’t do it without me. Do you understand?

Evans just stared at him, but he looked clearly defeated now, a stark contrast to his demeanor before the match.

Callis: Do you want the world, Jack? Shake my hand and you’ll have it all.

Evans looked at Callis and then out into the crowd, who was protesting the deal. Finally he looked back at Callis and shook his hand, causing the fans to boo. Jericho, Callis, and Evans then left for the back.

[Quinn says: Jack Evans finally got to be Jack Evans. Thank God. Evans has really grown into a solid wrestler over the past few years, but he’s not necessarily at this point of all around best or anything. Fortunately, Jericho is and all around great and he held this match together very well. The two compliment each other. It got a little spotty at times, but it’s fairly forgivable since the story was that they were both trying to top each other, although it seemed like it was rushed a bit due to time issues. It really makes you wonder what they could do with twice the time.]

Rating: ***1/4

Semi-Final Match: The Stampede Bulldogs vs. The Trinity

Joey talked about how the winners of this match would go onto Evolution to wrestle either Lethal Connection or The Onslaught Express for the tag titles.

The match started out with a lot of chain wrestling from all four guys. Joey put them over as all great technical wrestlers, but credited TJ Wilson as the one who could go to the air better than the rest.

Collyer and Smith had a real great sequence as Joey reminded the fans that Smith is the son of the British Bulldog and that Collyer was trained by Dean Malenko.

The action progressively picked up though as all four guys were pacing the match along nicely. They had also been given quite a bit of ring time, as they were nearing the 16 minute mark when they started going full speed.

At one point, when Smith and Walters were the legal men but all four guys were in the ring, Wilson dropkicked Collyer to the outside and followed up with a plancha (Joey made sure the reference his early point about Wilson being so versatile).

Smith then nailed Walters with a great snap suplex.

Styles: Harry Smith has John Walters all to himself now!

Smith then went to the turnbuckle and looked to be setting up for a tornado DDT. However, Walters stopped him with a punch and set Smith up for a superplex. But Smith broke that up and both men were now standing up on the turnbuckle together.

Styles: This may end poorly for both man!

Smith and Walters traded punches, with Harry eventually winning out. He then displayed an incredible feat of strength and nailed a huge powerbomb on Walters that also sent Smith crashing to the ground with him. He crawled over to Walters and made the pin for the victory.

Winners: The Stampede Bulldogs

Styles: The Stampede Bulldogs have earned their shot at the titles at Evolution!

[Quinn says: Everyone was on. The pacing was great and the ending sold the entire match. It felt like it was missing that one last big epic piece of the puzzle, but you really can’t look down on action like this.]

Rating: ****

Colt Cabana vs. Mike Enos

Joey talked about how Colt Cabana had been in the middle of this mess with CM Punk and how he wasn’t able to compete much lately as a result. He also talked about how Mike Enos was desperate to gain a big title before he retired, so there was a lot at stake for him.

Cabana looked pretty good in this one and Enos wasn’t too bad either. Cabana basically controlled everything and used a lot of his smooth European counters. He finished the match in just under three minutes after a sunset flip.

Winner: Colt Cabana

[Quinn says: More of an exhibition than anything else.]

Rating: **

The Dark Rockers vs. Josh Daniels and Vader

Joey talked about how the winners here could very well be in line for a title shot after Evolution, especially if they follow this match up with another win or two.

Daniels did the majority of the work for his team, dominating both Marty Jannetty and Derek Wylde. At one point Wylde got the best of Daniels after nailing an awesome Buff Blockbuster-like move from the mat. However, he spent too much time posing and showing off (despite Jannetty’s yells that Daniels was getting up) and allowed Daniels to sneak up from behind and hit an absolute killer german suplex.

Styles: Derek Wylde will be feeling that for months!

Daniels followed up with a suplex that set Wylde up for the Vaderbomb. Daniels then tagged in Vader so he could hit the move and give them the win.

Winners: Josh Daniels and Vader

[Quinn says: Well, it looks like it’s not a bad idea to just let Daniels do most of the work. Decent for a short match.]

Rating: **1/2

The Towers Get More Than They Bargained For

Lex Luger and Barry Windham came out to the ring with a mic. They talked about how they were being disrespected by the FWE because they weren’t automatically given the tag team title match. They said that they had proven themselves over decades and didn’t need to do so anymore. They said they wanted to give an ass kicking to anyone in the back who disagreed to show how serious they were.

And then Abdullah the Butcher came out.

Windham and Luger’s eyes lit up with fear.

Styles: I don’t think that was who they had in mind!

Abdullah brandished his fork as he entered the ring. The Towers exited the ring on both sides simultaneously as Abdullah entered. Abdullah went to chase Luger, but Windham snuck up behind him and nailed him with a clubbering forearm. Luger then got back in and the two beat down on Abdullah for a little while. They pretty much just stomped and punched him.

This worked for a while until Abdullah delivered a headbutt to Luger and nailed Windham with a fork shot. Abdullah then did his regular routine until The Towers ran off. Joey mentioned once again that this didn’t really seem to be what The Towers had in mind.

Styles: They wanted to take advantage of some young man in the back looking to make a name for himself, but instead they got exactly what they deserved!

Rating: 69

Semi-Final Match: Lethal Connection (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Onslaught Express

Joey reminded fans that the winner in this will wrestle the Stampede Bulldogs for the tag titles at Evolution.

Both teams relied on a lot of their spots from earlier matches, but added some new twists to them. The idea here was that they wanted to hit the same moves, but they needed to do it a little differently because they were all so familiar with each other. When someone would do something in the familiar way, it would end up getting reversed. Psychology-wise, this was solid, but there were a few blown spots as a result.

In the end, Davey “Crossfire” Richards and “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce hit Pawluk with the Bottle Rocket (Richards flew out of nowhere to nail the lung blower portion of the move) to score the win.

Winners: Lethal Connection

Joey immediately started hyping up the Lethal Connection vs. Stampede Bulldogs match.

[Quinn says: The psychology for the most part was awesome, with both teams relying on new ways to do the same thing and paying the consequences otherwise (Richards’ lung blower-from-nowhere move was especially nice). But it just didn’t feel like things were clicking at times. I’m not sure if the teams are as comfortable with each other as the storyline would suggest. Still, the effort was all there and they wrestled an entertaining, smart match. In different hands it could have been a catastrophe, but these guys made it work very well.]

Rating: ***

BJ Whitmer is Pissed

Whitmer was in the back with Kevin Kelly. He told Kelly that FWE was his opportunity to show that he was the next big thing in wrestling and that he was getting held down by politics. Even though he beat David Andrews last week, he wasn’t booked for a match tonight. And to make matters worse, Andrews gets to wrestle in the same ring with Ric Flair just because the Brotherhood convinced Modest to take him as his partner.

Whitmer: Well, I don’t need friends to prove that I’m the best. When I get in the ring, I use my body as a killing machine. And Andrews, you’re the first person on my hit list.

Rating: 76

Ric Flair and Doug Williams vs. Michael Modest and David Andrews (w/ Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo)

As the participants entered the ring Joey recapped Modest and Williams’ feud and talked about how Modest has been gunning for a title shot, first going after Punk’s contract and then settling on targeting Flair when the contract came up missing.

Styles: But the real story here could end up being about David Andrews, who has the biggest opportunity of his life tonight by being in the ring with not only one of the biggest legends in the business and our Heavyweight Champion, but also with two of the best wrestlers in the world today.

There was a bit of stalling at the beginning when Flair and Modest went to start thanks to Sullivan and Rotundo harassing the faces from the outside. It didn’t take long before referee Billy Silverman ordered them to leave the ringside area.

Styles: It looks like we’re going to get a fair match after all.

Modest and Flair had a short feeling out process that Modest didn’t seem to be quite comfortable with. With Modest’s feud with Williams relying so much on both of them getting used to each others’ offense, Joey wondered if Modest was being cautious about Flair picking up on his strategies before a potential title match. He brought up a good point that every student of the wrestling game has to be incredibly familiar with Flair’s work, whereas Flair will probably not be as familiar with theirs.

Styles: Michael Modest has almost certainly studied Flair for years, but how long has Flair studied Michael Modest?

With Modest never seeming quite comfortable, he finally tagged out to Andrews, who ran in the ring quickly and went for a clothesline. Flair ducked and nailed Andrews with a lariat on his way back.

Styles: Andrews’ enthusiasm got the better of him.

Flair spent a good amount of time schooling the young Andrews. He and Williams then tagged in and out quite a bit, isolating their opponent. But when Flair and Andrews were back in the ring with each other, Andrews was able to nail a dropkick after being thrown into the ropes. He then used some underhanded tactics to maintain control. After a minute or two of this, Modest demanded to be tagged in. Modest then dominated Flair in the ring. However, he didn’t rely on his usual arsenal. He focused mostly on simple offense and seemed to keep his favored strategies to himself.

Styles: Michael Modest is keeping his cards close to himself for the time being. He doesn’t want Flair to get too comfortable with his style.

At one point Modest had Flair in a standing headlock and Flair reversed it into an atomic drop followed by a poke to the eyes. He then made the quick tag to Doug Williams who really took it to Modest. Williams and Modest then went into their usual thing with a lot of speed and intensity. Eventually Modest tagged in Andrews leaped into the ring from the ropes and hit Williams with a dropkick. Andrews surprisingly did very well against Williams from that point on, falling for very few of his reversals. Joey speculated that Sullivan and Rotundo had rigorously prepared him for this match. After a while, Williams tagged in Flair and Andrews caught him off guard with a superkick. Andrews and Flair went back and forth for a while until Modest made a blind tag and hit Flair from behind with a german suplex. He went for the quick pin, but Flair kicked out. He then climbed the rope and went for what looked like should have been an axe handle drop, but Flair moved out of the way, came off the ropes, and nailed Modest with a clothesline. He continued to attack Modest before eventually tagging in Williams. Williams and Modest did some more of their usual stuff in the ring, with Modest coming out mostly on top.

At this point Andrews saw his opportunity and ran from his side of the ring to the other to hit Flair with a running uppercut. Flair dropped from the apron to the outside. Andrews then went to the outside and nailed Flair with a DDT to the stairs. Unfortunately, Billy Silverman didn’t see this, as Modest had Williams in a camel clutch and it looked like Williams was close to submitting.

Flair was out cold and Andrews, satisfied with what he had accomplished, went back to his corner.

Styles: David Andrews has taken out the Heavyweight Champion!

Modest, at this point, was having difficulties keeping the clutch on with Williams, who was struggling to get out. Modest released the hold. Modest was quick to get up, but Williams was struggling. Modest put his guard down for a bit and casually grabbed Williams from the back of his head to lift him up. Williams then took this opportunity to hit the Chaos Theory out of nowhere. He successfully nailed the first german suplex and then quickly hit the second. Modest was too off guard to reverse it. Williams ran over to Andrews and knocked him off of the apron and then made the pin on Modest to get the win.

Winners: Ric Flair and Doug Williams

Doug Williams helped Flair up and into the ring. Flair looked pretty mad, but Andrews was already taking off for the back. He was walking backwards as he neared the entrance, laughing at Flair. But as he walked backwards, he didn’t see BJ Whitmer come up from behind. He bumped into Whitmer and then turned around. Whitmer kicked him in the gut and then delivered an exploder on the steel entrance way.

Styles: BJ Whitmer is out to kill David Andrews!

Whitmer looked down at Andrews without smiling and left as Joey called him cold-blooded.

[Quinn says: There were some really great, exciting segments along with a lot of downtime. Flair and Modest were noticeably holding back when they were in the ring together. Overall great stuff though and Andrews is showing that he’s a bit more than just another rookie at this point.]

Rating: ***1/4

CM Punk (w/ Colt Cabana) vs. ????????

CM Punk and Colt Cabana (in street clothes) came out to the ring. Both of them looked pretty pissed and Punk had a mic.

Punk: I’ve been sitting in the back since the start of this show waiting for whoever the hell attacked me the other week to finally show his damn face. Well, I’m not waiting anymore. You’ve played your mind games, you’ve gloated in your stupid letter. So let me just say right now that whoever you are, you’ve won. You made me make the biggest mistake so far of my career and betray one of the few men in the business I actually looked at as a friend. Is that what you want to hear? That you won? Because you did. You won your damn mind games. But the mind games end tonight. And when the mind games are over, we go on to the real game. The one that takes place in this ring. The one that I’m the best at. I don’t care who the hell you are. I don’t care where the hell you came from. When you get in this ring, I’m going to give you everything I have. I’m going to kick your ass harder than it’s ever been kicked. I don’t care who you’ve wrestled in the past. I’m going to beat you within an inch of your life. So you said you were going to show yourself tonight, then let’s do this.

Punk slammed down the mic.

Styles: You have to wonder is Punk’s attacker is actually going to reveal himself tonight. If he wants the mind games to continue, you’d think he would just keep leading Punk along.

There was a significant amount of time of inactivity as Punk and Cabana seemed to consult each other in the ring.

Styles: Well, it doesn’t look like he’s going to come out and I can’t say I’m too surprised. I can’t imagine that in the back of Punk’s mind he didn’t also expect…

Styles was cut off by some generic sounding music. Punk’s face lit up with anger as he waited for someone to come out to the ring.

Styles: Wait a second! Is that…

As Styles paused, Don Juan came out.

Styles: Don Juan?! What the hell? Are you serious?!

Punk’s face went from angry to confused. Don Juan ran and slid into the ring. Punk promptly kicked the crap out of him, delivering a series of stomps as the bell rang.

Styles: The match is on and, fans, I am absolutely baffled that a young guy like Don Juan fooled someone like CM Punk, who is at the top of his game. And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting somebody a little more experienced and prolific than Don Juan. There’s no doubt that he’s a talented wrestler who’s loaded with potential, but as seen by his performance right now, he still has a long way to go.

Punk was just murdering Juan. Cabana himself was getting in a few cheapshots as Punk distracted the referee. After a few minutes of getting the hell beaten out of him, Punk busted Juan open hardway with a few stiff punches to the forehead. He set Juan down by the corner and delivered a few knees to the face, causing the blood to smear.

Styles: CM Punk is staying true to his word and not wasting any time beating Don Juan to the point where this match may need to be stopped.

Punk was taking his time beating Juan up until the point where it looked like he was almost a bit bored. He had gotten all of his frustrations out and finally put the match away after a Pepsi Plunge, which Joey noted was a rarity these days.

Winner: CM Punk

Referee Robert Brisko raised CM Punk’s hand as Joey noted it was a bit of an anti-climactic ending to the saga.

Styles: But I’m assuming at the end of the day Don Juan will be getting a title shot at Evolution, which, I have to be honest, doesn’t look like will be that great of a match if Juan does as well as he did tonight.

Colt Cabana entered the ring as Punk stood over Juan’s body and yelled at him. Then, to the shock of the crowd, Cabana attacked Punk from behind.

Styles: What the hell?!

Cabana repeatedly stomped Punk. He then got a chair from the outside and obliterated Punk with it, attacking his head, back, sides, knees, everything.

Styles: Colt Cabana has just attacked his best friend and… I can only assume that he’s had something to do with this all along, but I can’t imagine why or how…

Cabana continued to attack Punk as Juan recovered and joined in.

Styles: Cabana is a damn traitor, but I can’t imagine why he’s orchestrated this whole thing.

Finally, after Punk had been thoroughly bloodied and beaten, Cabana and Juan tied him up in the ropes. His eyes were open, but barely. Cabana grabbed a mic.

Cabana: Punker, I’m going to get this first thing out of the way before I say anything else, because I want you to hear it before you pass out from blood loss. I think out of everyone in the back and at home, you may be the only one who never thought that it could have been me. And let’s face it, that has more to do with your ignorance than any master plan of mine. I knew that I didn’t need anything ingenious. I didn’t want anything ingenious. Because the simpler this all was, the more humiliated you’d b in the end.

Punk was trying to yell out in protest, but he was clearly too shocked and too beaten to do much but mutter.

Cabana: All I had to do was get Don Juan here to do the work for me while I was on camera or with you and carry a decoy key with me. That’s it, Punk. Nothing special. Nothing you couldn’t have figured out if you would have had the common sense to suspect your best friend. Nothing you couldn’t have at least considered if you weren’t too stubborn to realize your instincts might be wrong. You had to be right, didn’t you? It had to be Ace because you always considered yourself better than him and you made up some conspiracy in your delusional, egotistical head.

Cabana paced around a bit and then smiled at the bloody Punk. He ordered Juan to kick him some more. He then pulled the contract out of his pocket.

Cabana: This is what this is all about, right?

Cabana then looked at the contract for a little bit.

Cabana: I don’t give a damn about this contract, Punk. But you do, don’t you?

Cabana then looked at the contract for a little bit more and then ripped it up and threw it in Punk’s face.

Styles: What the hell did he just do?

Cabana: This is the difference between you and me, Punk. You care about bullshit like this. You always cared about people seeing you as the best. And you don’t care what you have to do to get it. Didn’t earn that contract? No problem for CM Punk. I earn what I get. Because I care about competition. But I stood by you for years and let you hog all of the glory. And when I came here, I told myself that I was going to compete on my own. It was going to be about Colt Cabana, not the Second City Saints. I was going to show people that I was the next big thing.

Cabana paced around some more and then stopped to look at Punk.

Cabana: But then you came. And instead of working your way to the top, you made a spectacle. You won your opportunity with theatrics. And you continued to do that. And where was I? Still working on my own. Even when I did need help, I didn’t come to you because I knew it was finally my time. And then you get this damn contract.

Cabana got up in Punk’s face.

Cabana: This fucking contract.

He now started pacing again.

Cabana: And then what did you do? You came to me and Ace. You needed our help to get you what you didn’t deserve. And Ace—honestly, Punk—Ace was thrilled to help. Anything for his students. And at the end of the day, when you needed someone to blame, when it was maybe even your own damn fault for getting yourself in that mess in the first place, you looked right at Ace. Not only did you blame him, but you ruined him. All for yourself. That’s the kind of guy you are. Well, I’m sick of it, Punk. Once you came to us and acted like it was our responsibility to help you, I knew what I had to do. You can’t keep getting everything you want. Not anymore.

Cabana got in Punk’s face again.

Cabana: I’m not your fucking lackey anymore, Punk!

Cabana was now yelling.

Cabana: Things will never be the same again and it’s not my fault. I didn’t want it to be this way, but when you only take from a friendship, that friendship can’t continue and it damn well can’t just end. Because I’ve given so much to your career, Punk. I’ve given you everything that I have every time that you’ve asked and now it’s time for me to take that all back. And I’m going to take Don Juan under my wing and I’m going to show him everything I know. I’m going to foster his career. You know why, Punk? To show you that I’m better than you. This kid was willing to die tonight to serve me. And I’m going to take that energy and willingness he has and build him up. And when you see Colt Cabana rise to greatness and you see his student rise along with him, you’re still going to be down here on the mat, Punk. And you’re going to be alone. Because no one really gives a damn about you. Not anymore. You can only take for so long. You can only take before those you take from start to take from you. And I told you, Punk: I’m taking it all back. And I might even take more.

Cabana paced around some more.

Cabana: You know how many people in the back probably suspected me? Do you see how many people are coming to your rescue? You don’t have anyone without me and Ace, Punk. And you’re going to see how far you fall when we’re not around to bail you out.

Cabana pulled out another contract from his pocket.

Cabana: You know, I do care about one contract, Punk. It’s this one.

He threw it in Punk’s face. Cabana was now much calmer.

Cabana: I already signed it. We’re going to wrestle at Evolution. You’ll sign the contract. I know you will. I know you want to beat the hell out of me right now. So we’ll get a chance at what we both want. You’ve only been wanting this for a few minutes now. But Punk—and trust me on this—I’ve been wanting this chance a lot longer than you realize. I’ve been thinking about this a lot more than you could ever imagine. We’ve had plenty of matches against each other. And in some of them, we were letting out some very real aggression. But I swear to you—and if it’s one thing you do deserve, it’s honesty—this will be different. This is hate, Punk.

Cabana dropped the mic and stared at the drowsy Punk as the show silently faded to commercial.

[Quinn says: The match was nothing but a sick, extended squash, but Don Juan’s willingness to die (as Colt Cabana pretty accurately put it) made it quite a sight. Cabana promo was a little weird to hear, as it was a new feel compared to what he normally does. Not that that’s a bad thing. It just seemed like he only hit his stride when he started getting more emotional. It will be weird to get used to a more serious Cabana, but it’s a welcome change.]

Rating: **3/4

Falls Count Anywhere: Bryan Danielson, Matt Stryker, and Jushin Liger vs. Masada, Hernandez, and Necro Butcher (w/ Don Callis)

Joey was pretty shocked about the outcome of the last match, but said that they had to continue on. He mentioned that this was the last match because they wanted to give parents time to bring their kids home. He said that this match was sure to be one of the most violent so far in the FWE.

Refrees Billy Silverman, Hiroyuki Unno, and Robert Brisko were all on duty for this match and Joey added that more were in the back in case they were needed.

There was no mention of Dan Maff as Callis’ guys came down to the ring. Danielson, Liger, and Stryker all came out together and Joey noted that it looked like Danielson was more willing to cooperate tonight.

This match started out as a standard tag match at first. Masada (who was now wearing a singlet and in increasingly better shape) and Hernandez did the bulk of the work for their team. In fact, Butcher wasn’t even tagged in before the match got out of hand. Stryker and Liger did the majority of the work for their team because every time they tagged Danielson in, he got pretty distracted by wanting to get a hold of Butcher. In this way, it seemed like a good strategy to keep Butcher from coming in as a means of neutralizing Danielson.

But this strategy only worked for as long as order was maintained, and near the 8 minute mark, all hell broke loose. Danielson was in the ring and seemed to be ignoring Butcher as he stretched Masada. Then out of nowhere he just leaped up and dived at Butcher, causing both of them to fall to the outside. They were pounding away at each other and seemingly forgot they were even in a match. Liger ran into the ring quickly and locked on a single leg boston crab, continuing Danielson’s work. But at this point, there seemed to be little reason to maintain a sense of order. Hernandez climbed the turnbuckle and tried to splash Liger, but Liger moved out of the way. Liger and Stryker then doubleteamed Hernandez and clotheslined him to the outside. They doubleteamed Masada as well and concluded things with a palm strike from Liger. Stryker threw Masada out and the two played to the fans.

The fight spilled to the outside and it was pretty much a big brawl at this point. Danielson and Butcher stuck to fighting each other the entire time, with Butcher getting the best of Danielson for the most part.

After about nine minutes of brawling, Stryker, Butcher, and Masada were all busted open. Joey called this the bloodiest edition of Chaos TV ever.

Liger was standing his own pretty well in an environment he’s not necessarily used to, but this didn’t last long. When he and Hernandez were fighting neat the entrance way, Chris Jericho came out with a chair and blasted him with it. He tried once more to take Liger’s mask off, but Stryker chased him off with a chair of his own. Jericho smiled and slowly backed away while giving Stryker the finger. Stryker looked to see if Liger was okay, but was attacked from behind by Masada.

Eventually Stryker and Masada were alone in the ring as Danielson and Butcher fought in the crowd and Liger and Hernandez were pretty much out. Stryker hit the DVD and Joey started saying that this one was over. However, Dan Maff ran in the ring and quickly hit Stryker with the Burning Hammer!

Styles: Burning Hammer by Dan Maff!

Maff looked like a man possessed as he blankly stared down at Stryker’s limp body.

Styles: Once again, I’m speechless at this Maff situation. From what I know,t his guy is definitely not supposed to be here.

The crowd popped huge as Brock Lesnar stormed into the ring in seconds and started delivering a flurry of punches to Dan Maff.

Styles: Brock Lesnar is here and he’s getting retribution!

Brock hit the F5 and then turned his direction toward Don Callis, who was right outside the ring. Callis only hesitated for a second before he ran to the back. Brock followed immediately. The police then ran into the ring and cuffed the dazed Dan Maff and carried him out.

Styles: We’re now starting to gain control of this match. Well, as much control as we can.

Just as Maff was taken to the back, Danielson suplexed Butcher over the guardrail and back into ringside area. He slammed him into the steel steps and then brought him into the ring. Danielson pointed to the mat and yelled, “This is my house!” He then locked in Cattle Mutilation and held it for quite a while. Butcher refused to give up.

Styles: I think it will be a cold day in Hell before the Necro Butcher taps out!

Danielson then released the hold delivered a few knees to the back and neck of Butcher. He then climbed the turnbuckle and nailed Butcher (who was facedown) with a knee to the neck. He reapplied Cattle Mutilation and Butcher was clearly in much more pain.

Styles: Could he… is Butcher going to tap?!

After a minute of tormented screaming, Butcher waved his right hand wildly and referee Hiroyuki called for the bell.

Winners: Bryan Danielson, Matt Stryker, and Jushin Liger

Styles: I can’t believe it! The Necro Butcher tapped! The Necro Butcher tapped!

Danielson’s hand was raised and he spit on Butcher. The other two referees dragged Liger and Stryker into the ring as they celebrated.

[Quinn says: A straight up crazy brawl. I can't say I was wild about all of the fighting in the crowd, as that sort of thing is always a lot better to be there for more than anything else, but all six guys brought the hate. Danielson and Liger were, as usual, in top form, so no surprises there. Butcher did his thing too, and in this environment, that's not so surprising. But who I was really impressed with was Stryker, Hernandez, and Masada. They went above and beyond the call and helped make this match look professional. Sometimes when indy feds try big brawls like this, they can come off looking like a poor man's attempt at what the big leagues do. But these guys looked better tonight than I've ever seen them, hitting the big moves when they were most appropriate and making you really believe they wanted to kill each other. I wish I could go more, but like I said, there were too many dead spots due to the fighting in the crowd. But an overall great job by everyone involved.]

Rating: ***1/4

I'm really enjoying this so far, Zan. All of the twists and turns have been great and you've really set yourself in a good position. I have absolutely no idea where you will go with this, and as a reader, that's the best thing you can hope for. The political stuff is great and makes sense. You got me really nostalgic with all of that talk about Null, Jericho, and Punk. This diary is reminding me of how much fun it was to write the original.

Also, I loved the cliff hanger. It's definitely one of the many things I've read here so far that I wish I would have thought of. And Alex Shelley's promo was awesome. I was a little worried this would be too much of a two-faction war, but you're mixing it up very nicely.

Anyways, keep up the good work and I'll keep reading.

FWE News Update:

-We have finally reached the semi-finals to the tag team tournament to crown the first ever FWE Tag Team Champions. Next week on Chaos TV, The Stampede Bulldogs will face off against Chad Collyer and John Walters of The Trinity. Also, Jimmy Hart’s Lethal Connection will be back in action in the semi-finals when they take on their rivals, The Onslaught Express. The winners of these two matches will go on to wrestle each other at Evolution on November 27 in what will surely be a historic moment for the FWE.

-This has been a busy week for Don Callis. Not only has Callis launched a crusade against Jushin Liger and Matt Stryker, but he is now apparently targeting Jack Evans. Callis initially brought Evans into the FWE when he was head of the booking committee with the impression that Evans would be one of the company’s biggest players in short time. However, while Evans has displayed an amazing amount of athleticism and has quickly become a fan favorite, his win/loss record has been less than impressive. Don Callis has publicly stated that he is taking Evans’ poor performances personally since he feels it tarnishes his reputation. Over the past few days many have overheard Callis talking about Evans, saying that he will make sure he isn’t around long enough to continue to ruin his reputation. By the way he is talking, it looks like this issue could explode next week on Chaos TV.

-Speaking of Callis’ crusade against Liger and Stryker, Bryan Danielson has now been thrown into the mix due to his hatred for Callis’ hitman, Necro Butcher. Next week on Chaos TV, this issue is going to explode in the ring when Jushin Liger, Matt Stryker, and Bryan Danielson face Don Callis’ chosen Masada and Hernandez, along with his hitman, Necro Butcher, in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. There will be three referees for this match to ensure as much order as possible, but FWE officials have also notified the Miami Police Department of the situation just in case things get too wild. This will also be the last match of the night, as we want to make sure that parents have the opportunity to take their children home for the night before things get too brutal.

-Also signed for Chaos TV is Colt Cabana vs. Mike Enos. Superstardom has eluded Enos, the veteran, for many years and he has recently stated that he believes his in-ring days are winding down. Enos is a desperate man and many are curious to see how far he will go to climb the ladder in short order.

-Next week will be a big night for tag team action too. Not only will we be seeing the two semi-final matches in the tag team tournament, we’ll also be seeing The Dark Rockers face off against Josh Daniels and Vader. The winners of this one could be in good standing for a title shot.

-Additionally, Ric Flair and Doug Williams vs. Michael Modest and David Andrews has been signed. Flair and Williams have both recently had issues with Modest and requested this tag match. Since the other two members of The Trinity are already going to be in action, Modest had to seek out a partner for this match. Once word got out in the back, Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo were quick to offer the services of their protégé, David Andrews, who had a good showing against BJ Whitmer last week. This could be a breakout performance for Andrews and could also solidify Modest as the perfect #1 contender to Flair’s title if no one comes forth with Punk’s stolen contract.

-Speaking of Punk’s stolen contract, there has been a major development on the matter. The day after last week’s show, this letter showed up in Punk’s locker room:

Dear Punk,

I just want to thank you for what you did to your old buddy Ace Steel tonight. I was a little worried that when I finally revealed myself that I’d have to face the entire Second City Saints. But thanks to your paranoia and lack of patience, the odds have been evened just a little more in my favor. I’ll be honest though, I won’t let you take all of the credit. I knew what I was doing. I know how stupid you can be. I knew exactly what you would do. Does that scare you a little bit? Does it make you feel a little vulnerable? It should. Because you may be one of the best wrestlers when you’re in the ring, but when you are outside of it, you’re just a puppet, Punk. My puppet.

I did what I wanted to do in secrecy. But you want your hands on me? Well, it’s time for you to get what you want. Or is it what I want? We’ll see what you think after Chaos TV next week.

Punk has specifically requested that he have the night off to wrestle the author of the letter, so it looks like we will be seeing CM Punk vs. his mystery attacker next week on Chaos TV. There’s no telling exactly how this one will turn out. One thing is certain though: CM Punk is coming into the show next week pissed off and ready to fight.

-Finally, here is the updated card for Evolution:

*Ric Flair will defend his title

*The winner of the Lethal Connection/Onslaught Express match vs. The winner of the Trinity/Stampede Bulldogs match

*Jushin Liger vs. Chris Jericho

*Bryan Danielson vs. Necro Butcher in a Last Man Standing Match

Things are really shaping up for Evolution and we are told there will be some additional huge announcements for the event next week after Chaos TV.

Some of my personal favorites:

The Book of Ralph- It's probably one of the funniest books I have ever read. McNally is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

The Virgin Suicides- Worlds better than the movie, which didn't even touch the depth displayed in Eugenides debut novel.

The Catcher in the Rye- One of those essential readings. If you haven't already read it, you'll either love it or hate it. There doesn't usually seem to be a middle ground.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven- Alexie's prose is off the wall awesome and he's cynical as all hell.

Pastoralia- Definitely one of the most bizarre sets of short stories I have ever read. Saunders' prose is incredibely unique and he knows when to push the envelope.

Nice Big American Baby- Another set of short stories. Budnitz portrays the magical real in a way where it's hard to question it as a reader. It's a difficult thing to accomplish.

In the Lake of the Woods- I wish more commercial fiction was like this. O'Brien mixes politics and his own Vietnam experience in this one.

Slaughterhouse-Five- I don't think a war story and a sci-fi novel have ever been mixed together so well.

Alive- A great true story about the Andes survivors.

Okay, I'll stop now. Let me know if you read any of these (that goes out to anyone, for that matter). I like talking about these books. I've assigned some them in my book club and they generated good conversation.

Some people were claiming that Cash's version was better because Reznor just wrote the lyrics without actually having any feeling behind it, but Cash actually lived through those emotions

I've never heard that argument, and it's fucking ridiculous. Trent Reznor wrote that song about his own heroin addiction. It has far more relevance to his life than it ever would to Johnny Cash's. People just seem to relate the song to the video, and to the fact that it was his last single, and decide that makes it so much more emotional. Out of that context, yeah, it's still an emotional song, but not the heartbreaking epic emotional journey that some people seem to act like it is.

I always enjoyed Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" best. I know some people here passionately disagree, and it's certainly a close call, but there's something in Cash's voice that I prefer.

I've never seen anyone :ohwell:

I always enjoyed Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" best. I know some people here passionately disagree, and it's certainly a close call, but there's something in Cash's voice that I prefer.

[i'm a bit late with this one, but it's here.

This diary will go through some changes in structure. Most notably, I'm going to drastically cut backstage stuff and then slowly fade out of it. Why? I think that although what I was doing was working, a more wrestling-focused diary would be best. I thought for quite a while on whether or not I should switch gears so drastically, but I feel like the diary would be better off in the longrun.

The good news for those of you who may really enjoy the non-wrestling stuff is that I'm going to wrap everything up and keep readers posted on happenings. It won't be in first-person anymore, but more like a summary. Also, the backstage stuff that has already been established and will continue to be established will help set this fed in the real world a little more. I'm still going to justify some of the more outlandish business deals.

Some people in the Dome feel very strongly that diaries like the IWF, which are heavy on the backstage stuff and light on the wrestling, are too much of a novelty. It's something that I have gotten fairly criticized for in the past. And while I'm proud of the IWF, I do agree with those criticisms. This diary was an attempt to be heavier on the wrestling and I think I have strayed from that just a little too much for my liking.

However, with that in mind, I don't think there's anything wrong with the backstage stuff existing in the diary, just in how I present it. That means much less emphasis. I don't think that makes the diary any less real than others here. Every promotion has backstage happenings. So does this one.

I hope you guys enjoy.]

Chaos TV

Local TV Station

November 11, 2006

Miami, Florida

Joey Styles opened up the show by announcing that CM Punk got his wish and his main event match against Ace Steel tonight would be a Loser Leaves Town Match. Joey started to go on about how big of a deal this was when Ric Flair’s music cut him off.

Ric Flair Tries to Talk Punk Out of the Loser Leaves Town Match

Styles: It looks like we’re getting things started whether I’m ready or not!

Flair came down to the ring in typical Flair fashion as Joey informed the fans that he did not have a match tonight.

Flair: Miami, Florida! Whoo! The Nature Boy is here. Match or no match, you people paid money to see the greatest wrestler in the history of this sport, and you’re going to get him!

The fans cheered wildly as Flair strutted around.

Flair talked about how he expected to dominate the younger guys in the FEW when he came in but was caught off guard by how great CM Punk was. He put Punk over as the future of this sport despite some of his personal problems with him. He added that he had seen a lot of guys like Punk come and go in this business and what has kept him competing or so long is keeping a level head. He gave some open advice to Punk and told him not to allow his emotions to get the better of him. The consensus in the back was that Ace Steel had nothing to do with Punk getting attacked last week and Punk was at risk of ruining his career with self-destructive decisions.

Flair: When you throw out a Loser Leaves Town challenge, brother, you better do it for the right reasons. Respect is a big part of this business and…

All of a sudden CM Punk came out to the ring without any music and grabbed a second mic. Punk told Flair that he may have earned his respect, but he wasn’t going to let him run his career. He added that he got where he was by taking risks and trusting his instincts. He said his instincts told him that Steel, the man who trained him and was surpassed by him in just a matter of years, had been waiting for this opportunity to steal his heat.

Flair told Punk that he was right. He had the right to make his own decisions and he had gotten to where he was at by taking risks, but he gave him one final warning and said that it only takes one big mistake to ruin your career and your instincts are never always right. Punk stared him down for a few seconds and left without saying a word.

Overall: 92

First Round Tournament Match: The Towers vs. The Stampede Bulldogs

Joey reminded fans about how Barry Windham and Lex Luger had really picked on TJ Wilson throughout the big elimination match a few weeks ago.

The Bulldogs came into this match a bit smarter than the last time they were in the same ring with The Towers. Their offense was fast and they made sure that they weren’t individually in the ring for too long at one time. They knew that The Towers liked to isolate their opponents, so as long as they didn’t allow them to do that, they neutralized a big part of their offensive strategy. This also kept the action very fast-paced.

The Towers were able to rebound a bit after Luger caught Wilson in a clothesline that Joey called a “near decapitation.” Wilson sold the move like a pro by twisting in the air. Luger and Windham isolated Wilson for a few minutes until Wilson hit a flying crossbody on Windham and made a mad dive to Harry Smith for the tag. Smith unloaded on Windham and knocked Luger off the ring apron. He then hit a snap suplex on Windham and followed up with a diving headbutt for the win.

Winners: The Stampede Bulldogs

Joey told fans that The Stampede Bulldogs will advance to face the winners of the Trinity vs. Vader and Josh Daniels match.

[Quinn says: This was a great action-packed match thanks to the Bulldogs, but the ending was a bit abrupt. Still, Smith and Wilson fit a lot of great, logical stuff in a short amount of time.]

Rating: ***1/4

BJ Whitmer vs. David Andrews (w/ Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo)

Joey talked about how pissed off Whitmer was when he heard he was wrestling Andrews tonight instead of a more top tier guy.

This match was stiff as hell. Whitmer started off trying to knock Andrews unconscious, concentrating mostly on the head. About halfway through, after absorbing a considerable amount of punishment, Andrews fired back with some nice dropkicks and a devastating Exploder Suplex. Andrews went for the cover, but Whitmer kicked out at 2. When Whitmer gathered himself, he looked pretty shocked and mad that Andrews had used the Exploder against him, considering the Wrist Clutch Exploder was his finisher of choice.

Styles: That Exploder may have hit a bit too close to home for Whitmer.

Whitmer tried to fire back with some more offense, but he may have been a bit premature, as he was pretty woozy, which allowed Andrews to nail a gutwrench suplex followed by a piledriver. He went for another pin, but Whitmer barely kicked out.

Andrews was really getting fired up, but Whitmer managed to counter one of his dropkicks into a powerbomb. He then followed up with another powerbomb and a quick brainbuster followed by the Wrist Clutch Exploder for the win.

Winner: BJ Whitmer

Styles: Andrews put up a hell of a fight, but Whitmer was able to pick up the win! And you have to wonder if Whitmer maybe feels a bit foolish for doubting David Andrews.

[Quinn says: This was a lot better than I imagined it would be. The fans were getting behind those nearfalls which makes me wonder if Andrews has a future as a face in this company. One thing is sure: he can take a sick beating and dish one out as well. Whitmer, as usual, was on tonight.]

Rating: ***1/4

Jack Evans vs. Don Juan

Joey talked about how a win here was going to be huge for one of these guys, as neither one has done very well in the FWE, despite Evans’ popularity.

This was a fairly spotty and short match. Joey talked mostly about the Steel/Punk situation and how Steel had mostly been quiet this week. As things started to pick up in the ring, Joey concentrated on the match. Evans got a few nearfalls and just when it looked like he was going to win the match, Don Juan rolled him up for the win.

Winner: Don Juan

The fans booed Juan as Joey talked about how Evans had a huge hole to dig himself out of with the booking committee.

[Quinn says: They had such a small amount of time to get anything going, so this was mostly a mess of spots. They performed their actual moves well, which was certainly fun to watch, but there wasn’t much done to connect them to anything meaningful.]

Rating: **1/2

First Round Tournament Match: The Onslaught Express vs. The Dark Rockers

This was mostly domination on the part of the Express. The match didn’t last very long. The Rockers took control for the first portion, but were quickly taken apart by the technical teamwork of Ash Parker and Greg Pawluk. Pawluk eventually scored the pinfall on Jannetty after a bridged german suplex.

Winners: The Onslaught Express

Joey: The Onslaught Express will take on Lethal Connection next week in the semi-finals!

[Quinn says: Derek Wylde looked really good and the Express are working great as a team, but this match was too short to be much of anything other than an opportunity to put the Express over.]

Rating: **1/2

Chris Jericho vs. Jushin Liger

Joey talked about how Callis had ordered Chris Jericho to take Liger out of action and how Liger had been fending off Hernandez and Masada for months.

These two put on yet another classic battle. Liger appeared to hurt his knee early in the match during a dive which set up Jericho’s strategy for the majority of the match. Because Jericho targeted the leg, Liger had to keep his offense simple, relying on ground attacks. Ironically, even though he needed to avoid Jericho locking on any submissions on his leg, Liger tried to work mostly a submission match, focusing on Jericho’s right arm. Liger showed his expertise and experience by dominating the opening technical sequences and put a lot of stress on the arm. Eventually Jericho’s arm was injured enough that even though Liger’s leg was a great target, Jericho did not go for submissions in fear of losing a technical battle with Liger and getting his arm locked into something match-ending.

This strategy may not have worked out the best though, as Jericho dominated while the two brawled. He eventually got the win after an enziguri.

Winner: Chris Jericho

After the match Jericho tried to take Liger’s mask off. Joey was screaming about how disrespectful that was and how such a move could end Liger’s career. At the last second, Matt Stryker ran in for the save. He got Liger out of the ring and they escaped through the crowd as Masada came in to help Jericho out.

[Quinn says: These two can’t possibly ruin a match when they are in the ring together. They really pushed the limits of what is possible in about 12 minutes if you can’t rely on something fast-paced by wrestling a very smart match. They placed their moves logically and performed moves that were realistically devastating so that it didn’t seem weird that they were so injured in such a short amount of time. The “botched” dive at the beginning did a lot to hurry things along too. Overall, just about as close to epic as you can get within the limits.]

Rating: ****1/2

Brock Lesnar vs. Hernandez

Joey talked about how Don Callis had been making threats to Lesnar, saying he would bring in someone more lethal than him because Lesnar had rejected Callis’ offer to join the Chosen by F5ing him.

Lesnar dominated early on to get the crowd pumped up, but Hernandez eventually came back and slowed the match down a bit by applying a lot of rest holds. Eventually Lesnar reversed out of a headlock by lifting Hernandez up and dropping him back. Lesnar fired back with some quick, exciting offense and it looked like the end was inevitable when someone ran into the ring from the crowd and started to beat Lesnar up.

Winner: Brock Lesnar via DQ

Styles: Is that… I can’t… I can’t believe it! That’s Dan Maff!

As Joey talked about how he must be Callis’ new guy, Maff was hammering down on Lesnar and then lifted him up and hit the Burning Hammer.

Styles: Dan Maff may have just put Brock Lesnar away for good!

Dan Maff stared down at Lesnar’s prone body as there was a bit of silence. Joey wasn’t quite sure what to say.

Styles: Fans, I don’t know what to think about this. As far as I knew, Dan Maff had been unofficially banned from all of professional wrestling for reasons that, quite honestly, I’m not even sure I’m allowed to talk about!

There was more silence as Don Callis came in with Masada and Chris Jericho. The four of them beat down Lesnar. Joey eventually talked and said that since Lesnar hadn’t exactly made many friends in the back, it didn’t look like anyone was going to come to his rescue.

The beatdown finally ended and all four men raised each other’s arms. Joey was noticeably steering clear of discussing the Maff situation.

[Quinn says: I don’t think this was so much about the match as it was about the angle, but Brock’s offense was pretty good. Hernandez looked to just be waiting for the run-in. As far as the Maff stuff is concerned… maybe I’ll reserve judgment. I always thought he was a fine wrestler and everything, but without the controversy surrounding his previous departure, I’m not sure if it would have had the surprise factor that it did. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?]

Rating: **3/4

First Round Tournament Match: The Trinity vs. Vader and Josh Daniels

Joey noted that the winners of this match would face The Stampede Bulldogs next week in the semi-finals.

Chad Collyer and John Walters worked extremely well as a team once again. They dominated Josh Daniels in the early portions as Joey noted how much they had improved as a unit. He said that Daniels and Vader will have had to have made a lot of progress as a team in order to get the win.

Collyer and Walters did a really good job isolating Daniels. However, to say that Daniels was the weak link in his team speaks more for the incredible power of Vader, as Daniels unloaded some of his Dynamite Kid-inspired offense after a few minutes. The Trinity knew immediately that this match was not going to be won easily.

Collyer and Walters were able to adjust their plans though. Instead of using a lot of their energy to beat down on Daniels only to have him get the hot tag to Vader, they acted preemptively and allowed Vader to be tagged in. Still being quite fresh, they were able to make a lot of tags in and out and weaken the big man. This didn’t come without it’s price though, as Vader got in a lot of great, stiff offense that sent the two Trinity members flying around the ring. They were able to gain the upperhand eventually after a huge double brainbuster. Vader then got the hot tag to Daniels who, like before, unloaded on the Trinity. Collyer and Walters, however, were able to once again maintain the upperhand with teamwork. This time they stuck with their old plan of isolating Daniels, but also got in a few cheap shots on Vader. This minimized the impact he would have if he would eventually be tagged in.

After a while of being dominated, Daniels nailed Walters with a release german suplex and then caught Collyer in a suplex and dumped him outside. He made the tag to Vader, who was visibly worn out. Vader slowly pounded on Walters, but Collyer managed to compose himself enough to exhaustingly climb the top rope and manage a flying crossbody. Collyer rolled out of the ring and landed on the floor to rest some more. Walters had just enough time to climb the top rope and hit a flying DDT. He ran over to his opponents’ corner and knocked Daniels off the apron. He then climbed the turnbuckle again and hit a leg drop and pinned Vader for the win.

Winners: The Trinity

[Quinn says: This was a good old fashioned tag match where the heels took control of the situation, but at the same time, it was aware of all of the typical tag formula and worked around that to make it a little fresher. Vader looked a little clumsy near the end and I felt that Walter’s revival was a bit too superman, but all things considered, it was a great match.]

Rating: ***1/4

Michael Modest met in the back with John Walters and Chad Collyer. He told them that they were one step closer to getting the tag titles and then added that soon he would be the FWE Heavyweight Champion. As he said this, Flair, who was in hearing range, walked over with his belt over his shoulder.

Flair: You think you’re a big enough man to hold this belt, Modest?

Modest didn’t say anything at first and opted to stare Flair down for a bit.

Modest: I’m the toughest son of a bitch in this promotion. If no one signs that contract that’s floating around somewhere, I can guarantee you one thing, Flair: Not only will I be the man to face you at Evolution, I’m going to be the man who finally beats the man for good.

Flair looked a bit amused.

Modest: You go ahead and smile. I know a lot of guys have said that to you and you’ve surpassed them all. But your time’s running short. You know it too, don’t you?

Flair looked a little more serious now and this time Modest smiled.

Modest: You watch me in my match tonight, Flair. And you ask yourself if you can even perform like that anymore. Ask yourself that, okay?

Modest, Walters, and Collyer walked off while Flair watched them leave.

Michael Modest vs. Doug Williams

Joey went over the Modest/Williams history and how Modest had finally found a counter to the Chaos Theory. He also added that this could very well be a #1 contender match in the eyes of the booking committee if no one signs the “missing” contract.

This was a bit of the usual affair for these two (maybe too much so). Williams hit a lot of his reversals and Modest played up on their history together by finding a lot of counters to them. Modest brought some new power moves to the table and Williams, not expecting these since they were not in Modest’s normal arsenal, did not reverse many of them.

Modest really played up on the fact that he had a counter to Williams’ finishing move and actually gave him a few opportunities to easily hit it. Williams, of course, did not.

Styles: Michael Modest is playing mind games with Doug Williams. He may very well have forced Doug Williams to get rid of the most affective move in his arsenal, the Chaos Theory.

However, as Joey would later note, Williams could seemingly hit the Chaos Theory out of nowhere and if Modest wasn’t expecting it, it could still work. Eventually Williams did go for the move after launching Modest chest-first into the turnbuckle. He hit the first german suplex easily and almost got him up for the second, but Modest used every bit of strength he had to take himself the opposite way and nailed a huge stunner that sent Williams flying back. Modest went for the pin and won.

Winner: Michael Modest

Styles: Michael Modest has finally pinned Doug Williams in a one-on-one match and very well may have bought himself a title match.

[Quinn says: These two put on great matches and I definitely appreciate it, but it’s getting a bit redundant and losing some of the awesome energy. I liked how their matches have been evolving, but I just didn’t feel like this one was enough of a variant to justify anything **** or higher. I can’t tell if the match would come off better isolated or as part of their series. On one hand, it doesn’t come off as so repetitive if one would view it without seeing the others. On the other hand, you lose part of the story in the reversals being used. And it’s still undeniable that their earlier matches were filled with a bit more liveliness. All things considered, this was still a great match, but maybe a bit subpar from their other outings.]

Rating: ***1/2

Bryan Danielson and Matt Stryker vs. Masada and Necro Butcher

Joey briefly went over the Danielson/Butcher feud and said that they are just two different guys with two different personalities who were bound to collide. He also added that Danielson isn’t too keen on having to cooperate with someone else tonight.

The first half of this match was a straight up tag match and all guys were really clicking. When Masada was in the ring the match was definitely more technical and when Necro Butcher was in the ring it was more of a brawl. Butcher was taking a lot of punishment as Joey put him over as someone that was very hard to defeat. He put over his death matches and talked about how much pain he could absorb.

Danielson and Stryker didn’t have much of a cohesive plan, but they made sure to tag in and out and were both working hard. Joey said that Stryker seemed to be more intent on winning the match since he was going for a lot of pins while Danielson just wanted to dish out punishment on Necro Butcher.

Butcher and Masada definitely had more of a plan. Joey noted that Butcher was Callis’ hired gun, so this was no surprise. However, even though they were collectively going for more pins at the beginning, the match really broke down about midway through as Butcher and Danielson, neither of which were the legal men, started brawling outside of the ring and eventually into the crowd.

Styles: All hell is breaking loose in Miami, Florida!

This left Masada and Stryker alone in the ring. The two went back and forth for a little bit and then Stryker hit the DVD out of nowhere for the win.

Winners: Bryan Danielson and Matt Stryker

Styles: Matt Stryker got a taste of revenge tonight, but his issues with the Chosen seem far from over.

[Quinn says: The first half of the match was awesome, as Necro showed how much he has developed outside of his death match stunts. The other three also worked really well out there, with Danielson bringing most of the intensity. Based on this, I think a Masada/Butcher tag team could work really well. However, I can’t say I enjoyed the other half. It lost a lot of the focus and it looked like Stryker and Masada just wanted to take it home. It was like they clipped a ***** match in half.]

Rating: ***1/4

Falls Count Anywhere, Loser Leaves Town Match: CM Punk vs. Ace Steel

As both men came out, Joey talked about how unfortunate this all was. He said even though it’s not clear what exactly is going on, it’s still a bad situation. No matter what, a friendship was in the process of being destroyed.

Ace Steel looked pretty depressed as he entered the ring.

Styles: I have my doubts that Ace Steel is as guilty as CM Punk believes, but at this point it doesn’t really matter. If CM Punk beats him tonight, it should be pretty clear whether or not he was the man behind the beating.

Colt Cabana actually came down after Steel and Punk did. Joey said that he wanted to support both of his friends equally.

Punk and Steel stared each other down. Punk was mouthing off to Steel, while Steel seemed to reluctantly yell back. Punk slapped Steel and Steel slapped him back. Punk then slapped him again and got a forearm in return. The two then started to brawl like crazy all over the ring.

The match stayed in the ring at the beginning, but soon spilled to the outside. Punk was the first to use outside objects to his advantage as he whipped Steel into the barricade and threw a few chairs at him once in a while. Steel just took the punishment for the most part but eventually started to fight back. The two started to brawl around the crowd and Punk busted Steel open with a massive chairshot. Steel went ballistic at the sight of his own blood and unloaded on Punk with a chairshot of his own.

Styles: At this point, if he is innocent, I’m not so sure that Ace Steel has any apprehensions of beating Punk.

The fight eventually spilled back into the ringside area where Cabana was still waiting and observing. Punk gained control of the match and then rolled Steel back in the ring with a chair. He hit Steel with the chair a few times until he was wobbling on his knees. Punk then grabbed a mic with the chair in his other hand.

Punk: You confess to the world right now, you piece of shit. You confess right now and I won’t pin you.

Punk put the mic to Steel’s face. Steel let out of a few deep breaths as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

Steel: I… didn’t… do it.

Punk punched him in the face a few times, smacked him with the chair, and then, with Steel still on his knees, rested the chair near his head and hit a shining wizard. Punk pinned Steel and won the match.

Winner: CM Punk

[Quinn says: Ace Steel certainly performs best working a crazy brawl and CM Punk is, well, CM Punk. The good thing about this match is both men brought the emotions, but it didn’t tell too much of a story and it didn’t have that insane brawling feel that something like this sometimes needs. Everything was there, but it was missing that special something. It was more of a mindless brawl with a story in the background. Maybe Steel just wasn’t high enough on the card. Either way, great effort, but nothing epic.]

Rating: ***

Styles: Guilty or not, Ace Steel is gone from the FWE!

Cabana ran in the ring and helped Steel to his feet. Punk stayed around until his former friend composed himself.

Punk: Be a man. Confess. Tell me that you did it, Steel.

Ace Steel, a broken man, stripped of his friends and his job, looked at Punk with angry grief and said off mic, “I didn’t do anything.”

Punk froze. For a second it looked like he maybe regretted what he had done. But he quickly collected himself to at least looking doubtful. The fans chanted “Thank you” at Ace Steel as Cabana helped him out of the ring. Punk still just stood there.

Styles: If Ace Steel wasn’t the man who attacked CM Punk, if he was telling the truth this entire time, then who the hell has that contract?

Overall Rating: 73

I didn't know about the South Park and John K stuff. I knew Parker and Stone did an episode about Family Guy, but I hadn't seen it yet.

Dane Cook is to stand-up comics as Seth McFarlane is to animators; he may be popular and successful but he's generally loathed by much of the other people in his industry.

Ignition is my personal favorite, as it has the raw feel their debut album had but also felt a bit more powerful. I like Ixnay on the Hombre just fine, but it was certainly the beginning of the end. I haven't really gotten into anything since Americana.

I've actually opened a couple nights at a local comedy club and if I learned one thing in the few times I've done it, it's that comedians absolutely loathe Dane Cook. A lot of them call him a plagiarist, which he has blatantly ripped off Louis CK on a few occasions, but I think a lot of it boils down to jealousy. The guy is way better looking than most comedians, he's been extremely successful in a short period of time and he's very young. Again, working in that club, I saw comedians in their 50s who claim to have been doing stand-up for thirty years and more people in the club knew who I was because I was on the radio. Dane Cook is a tough pill to swallow for a lot of people. I think Cook can be funny, he's definitely not going to make any top ten lists for me, but he knows how to appeal to his audience and that works for him. He's likely just another fad that will overstay his welcome, but he's made me laugh quite a few times.

The only thing that confused me a bit was the "Don't Kill Eric" chants, but I believe in grace periods to pan things like this out, so it didn't bother me too much.

I love how many wrenches are bring thrown into the workings. The Shelley/Mercury confrontation showed what a great decision it was to go for the WWE vs. TNA scenario. I was pretty bummed that Hernandez was eliminated so early, as I was eager to see the badass LAX tag team dominate, but it might be nicer to see Homicide go solo.

I'm also really looking forward to how you develop Gage, Goldberg, and Kenny, as they all seem to have potential as strong loners (in Kenny's case, as long as he keeps acting like he's something special).

Overall, great stuff. McMahon is definitely ruthless and I'm interested in seeing how he responds to the Jarrett/HHH situation. Keep up the good work.

I really enjoyed the McMahon twist and am looking forward to see how Trish does. I like the scenario and the roster you have chosen. There's a lot of potential here that could go one way or the other. A guy like Dutt could end up being fodder or a major player. I could definitely say the same for the likes of Luke, Jacobs, Evans, Hoyt, and a lot of other guys. Of course, it'll be interesting to see how you play with those expectations. Maybe it's weird, but the thing I really liked was Varys' use of old IWF clips. During the second part of the IWF, I was somewhat dreading having to do the-wrestlers-are-shocked-and-have-to-come-to-terms-with-this bit because you can't rush it and be convincing and it's not particularly interesting to read about more than once. This was a real quick fix that I liked.

Anyways, I'll be reading. Good stuff so far.

I'm also happy to see Lord of the Flies. The list is a bit underwhelming so far, but it will still be interesting to see the top 5 or so.

Thought I'll just add in one negative vote.

-1984 by George Orwell. The first three quarters was great, but then BY GOD, this man knows how to bore people. What, like 20 pages of straight dialogue? I know it's intellectual and shit, but damn it was boring.

1. The Book of Ralph

2. The Virgin Suicides

3. The Catcher in the Rye

4. 1984

5. Animal Farm

6. Notes From Underground

7. A Clockwork Orange

8. Pastoralia

9. Nice Big American Baby

10. Where I'm calling From

It's depressing to see the lack of Salinger love.

EDIT: I edited out Lord of the Rings since it's a series.

FWE News Update:

-The Florida Wrestling Empire has made an agreement with the local stations that allows the show to run over into the third hour if need be.

-The situation surrounding CM Punk’s contract is apparently up in the air. At the end of the night, no one in Punk’s camp could find the contract and no one else has come forth yet with it. At this point it’s a complete mystery. Kevin Kelly questioned Don Callis about it after the show went off air and even he seemed genuinely surprised.

-CM Punk has been persistent in wrestling Ace Steel in a Falls Count Anywhere, Loser Leaves Town Match. He says that he not only wants to kick Steel out of the FWE, but he wants to beat him within an inch to his life. A lot of the boys in the back have really stuck up for Steel, saying that he wouldn’t have stolen the contract, but Punk hasn’t budged one bit. He is convinced that Steel has backstabbed him even though the evidence is foggy at best. Cabana has really backed off and taken a neutral stance, but sources say this is mostly at the request of Steel, who is seriously considering also asking for the Loser Leaves Town Match to go forward. Word is that Steel feels like his manhood will be at risk if he backs out of the match. As Punk’s trainer, it may look bad to have one of his former students walk all over him. There are a lot of hard feelings and confusion involved in this one. FWE officials have declared that no final decision will be made about the stipulations of the match until Thursday morning, but that the match will go on, stipulations or no stipulations.

-Because of the confusion surrounding the contract situation, Ric Flair will be given the night off this Thursday. Unless someone comes forth with the contract, Flair won’t be wrestling, although he has promised to make an appearance and announcement about the missing contract.

-Also concerning the contract, unless someone signs it and requests the match happen at Evolution, a new #1 Contender will need to decided for the big show. FWE officials have been impressed with Michael Modest lately, so in order to put him to the test again, he will wrestle his rival Doug Williams, who Modest has had difficulties pinning in the past, this Thursday. Modest has finally found a counter to the Chaos Theory, so this match could be their most even yet.

-The Tag Team Championship Tournament is really heating up. Lethal Connection has already defeated Colt Cabana and Ace Steel to advance and will be given the night off this week. On the next episode of Chaos we will see who will join them when The Towers take on The Stampede Bulldogs, Vader and Josh Daniels wrestle The Trinity, and the Onslaught Express go at it with The Dark Rockers.

-BJ Whitmer will be given his big match in return for a night off last week when he faces off against David Andrews. Apparently Whitmer was pretty upset that his big match was against a rookie, but officials disagreed, saying that Andrews is a future great. Sources close to Whitmer say that he is looking to make an example out of the young Brotherhood member and prove to the FWE why he should only be in matches involving the company’s top guys.

-Four other huge matches have been signed for Thursday. In tag team action, we’ll be seeing Bryan Danielson team with Matt Stryker to take on Necro Butcher and Masada. At this point there is very little doubt that Butcher and Callis have some kind of strong working arrangement. But while Callis may be the glue holding Masada and Butcher together, Danielson and Stryker may be in some trouble. Danielson is said not to be thrilled with having to tag with someone. Stryker has tried to meet with him several times to discuss strategy, but Danielson has so far made himself unavailable.

-Fans will also get a chance to see Jack Evans and Don Juan go one-on-one. Juan and Evans both desperately need to impress here to stay in the good graces of the FWE booking committee. This is not a do or die moment for either of them literally, but the loser will find himself in a major hole to dig out of while the winner will gain some much needed momentum.

-In what is being deemed as a result of Don Callis’ influence in the back, Brock Lesnar vs. Hernandez has been signed. Lesnar and Callis got in a bit of confrontation the other week that resulted in Callis getting F5ed and Hernandez will be representing Callis’ Chosen in the match. Both men are two of the biggest powerhouses in the FWE, so this one should be great.

-Finally, a huge match was just signed earlier today. Jushin Liger will be taking on Chris Jericho. We overheard Don Callis telling Jericho that he needs to take care of his “Liger situation,” and this may be the first (and possibly final) step that process. Jericho has been promised a title shot via Callis’ backstage influence once he takes care of all of Callis’ problems, so Jericho will be desperate to take care of this sooner or later. Liger is said to have healed pretty well from his nasty fall the other week and is coming into the match Thursday ready to fight. This match has the potential to be very, very different from their previous bouts, as the stakes are high and both are ready to dish out and receive violence.