WORLD.WIDE.WRESTLECIDE 003!

WORLD.WIDE.WRESTLECIDE 003 ¤ 19 AUGUST 2010
ISKU AREENA, LAHTI, FINLAND

Once the cue was given, the cameras started rolling and WORLD.WIDE.WRESTLECIDE 003 began beaming to thousands of fans online! The pyrotechnics were of the highest order as about 5,200 fans welcomed the ACW roster back to Finland after what was hailed as an amazing show in COURAGE 116 many weeks ago. The citizens of Lahti served up a hell of an atmosphere in the Isku Areena, eagerly awaiting the KING OF AGES 2010 pay-per-view that would be held in Stockholm in a week’s time.

The first item on agenda was a match, and unfortunately for the fans, it didn’t feature any of their fan favourites. Still, they were pumped to see Iceman come out, armed with his trademark scowl and all. With his win over hometown boy Shenkar Rasmussen in a dark match on COURAGE 120, Iceman was afforded an opportunity to shake things up in a major way as he took on Fejona Min for the ACW Scorpion Fighting Title. Fejona didn’t look too pleased as she made her way down to the ring; clearly, this was the doing of one Jeremy Hunt considering the friction that has developed between the two. It was evident that Min had one eye on the epic Stockholm Syndrome Match at KING OF AGES 2010, and the wily Iceman duly took advantage. It’d been a while since Iceman had the chance to challenge for the Scorpion Fighting Title in singles competition; LEGENDS IV was, in fact, the last time. Coincidentally, it was after Iceman’s defeat to Omega that Fejona Min made her shocking return. Hence, there was an added layer of drama to the fight. ACW’s Original Femme Fatale eventually got her head back into the game, and after clawing her way back from the jaws of defeat, Fejona finally put Iceman away by laying him out via a brainbuster down onto ‘Barb’. A solid win for Fejona, which surely helped to calm her nerves after the scare she got at Arkady’s hands on COURAGE 120.

Backstage, in a make-shift office, ACW’s General Manager SilverHAWK was seen having a conversation with All-Star Academy Chief ICU. A lot of history between those two Hall Of Famers, and there was an electricity in the air as the two men talked about potential stalwarts from the Academy joining the ACW roster soon. SilverHAWK told ICU that he was impressed with the talent that had been assembled in the Academy, and asked how the Academy’s finances were doing. ICU responded that there was no cause for worry, as he’d just received a donation from a certain somebody earlier that day. SilverHAWK was confused, until he was told who made the donation: none other than the Caped Crusader, Z!

It was back to the ring after that little breather. Having spent months toiling away in the All-Star Academy, MIS (referred to some as the Japanese Wrecking Machine) was rewarded with a call-up to the big time on COURAGE 120 and although he competed in dark match, MIS impressed. Hence, he and Koji Takada — who was also of Japanese descent but still exclusively contracted to the All-Star Academy for the foreseeable future — found themselves teaming up against The SOBs. While the last few months hadn’t been too kind to The SOBs, they still had the overwhelming support of the fans and ran roughshod over the tandem of MIS and Koji in the opening minutes. It appeared that all MIS and Takada had in common was their country of birth. Still, their combined talent finally shone through after Koji hammered Selby O’Brien with a cartwheel kick and MIS followed up with a belly-to-back suplex! From there, the match evened out, and the fans watched the momentum change numerous times. The see-saw encounter saw MIS claim a pinfall over Selby following his MIS Explosion finisher while Koji kept Sheamus occupied outside the ring.

Once all four participants of that previous match-up were escorted away from ringside, it was time for another match straightaway. And the fans exploded when Sven Avsbern came down to the ring, looking supremely confident. Although it wasn’t Sweden, Sven Avsbern still got the loudest round of cheers of the night by far, and the Swedish War Machine was in fine form. ‘Zen-Zational’ Zhang Tao never stood a chance, losing another match. Even if it wasn’t a Scorpion Fighting Rules match-up, Zhang Tao couldn’t mount more than four moves in a row, and Sven easily dispatched him with his trademark pop-up clothesline. After the bell rang, Sven took control of a microphone and warned everyone that his moment of destiny was nearing. Obviously, Sven The Hardcore was referring to KING OF AGES 2010 and the fact that it was being held in his backyard. But still, nobody had a clue what he really meant. Cryptic, indeed.

Backstage, SilverHAWK had caught up with Z, who was reading a women’s magazine. Don’t ask. HAWK asked the Masked Enigma why he had donated a large sum of money to the All-Star Academy. Z reminded HAWK that it was his financial contributions that ensured the All-Star Academy had a new lease of life earlier in the year (February to be precise). Z went on to say that he therefore felt obligated to keep tabs on the Academy and was committed to seeing the Academy thrive. SilverHAWK didn’t seem like he bought that story, and warned the Masked Enigma that he would not tolerate any hijinx. Z laughed, and told SilverHAWK to re-focus his attentions on whatever Jeremy Hunt from SlySports was plotting.

Ever since coming within a whisker of becoming United States Champion way back in February of this year, Peter Phoenix has had an indifferent spell of fortunes in the All-Star Academy. Kati, meanwhile, has slowly been estabilishing herself as a valuable member of Z’s inner circle despite not featuring in that many matches. It was then very encouraging to see Kati and Phoenix set their inhibitions aside and throw everything but the kitchen sink at each other. At one point, Jack Harris (a very familiar face to Peter) and Kesavan came down to the ring, but Kati gestured for them not to get involved, even though she was reeling from Peter’s fierce strikes. Finally, Kati secured the hard-fought win after countering Phoenix’s attempt at a triangle choke into a rolling clutch pin. Kati and Peter shared a nod of respect moments later, with Harris and Kesavan watching on sourly.

Backstage, none other than backstage interviewer extrodinare Jenna McMullen was seen speaking to Joe Bishop. Bishop, who was the right-hand man to SilverHAWK, explained to Jenna that there had been a new match signed for the KING OF AGES 2010 pay-per-view; Orlando Grant would take on ‘Vicious’ Greg Miles in a traditional Scorpion Fighting Rules match-up. Jenna was surprised, and wondered aloud if Greg Miles would be able to make the pay-per-view considering how bad a shape he was in after his match with Orlando on COURAGE 120. Bishop revealed that the doctors had given Greg a clean bill of health, and it was Greg himself who requested for another opportunity to lock horns with Orlando. Joe also stated that the winner would get a shot at the Scorpion Fighting Title on COURAGE 121.

An interesting tidbit about Malk Al-Haq: his recent war with Midnight Cowboy for the Spirit Of ACW Championship may have ended on a not-so-positive note, but his second reign as United States Champion was going just swimmingly. Except for the small issue of a true former All-Star from ACW’s past in ‘Courageous’ Charlie Cusack coming back into the fold. Charlie and his nephew Jackie Cusack received a solid reception from the Finnish fans; there were a handful of fans that remembered The Courageous One’s past, holding up posters of Charlie from his SWF days. Malk Al-Haq and Kirzhov Vayzi — comrades in the cabal that Z had formed with Trey Vincent not too long ago — had one goal only: weaken Charlie Cusack as much as possible, so that Malk’s eventual showdown with him at the end of the month would go in the Babylonian Overlord’s favour. Alas, after a tag team encounter that grew in stature over the course of thirteen minutes, it was Charlie Cusack and his nephew Jackie Cusack standing tall; Charlie had in fact pinned Malk to win the match. Every single fan were on their feet, and for everybody associated with the All-Star Academy, the feeling was that there would soon be a brand new United States Champion to look forward to.

Outside the arena, Jenna McMullen was freezing her tits off. Lucky for Jenna, she had the company of Z to serve as a distraction. Jenna proceeded to ask Z whether he could spill any details on his proposed meeting with Fejona Min after COURAGE 120. Z acted all coy, claiming that it was purely a business meeting and nothing else happened. The Caped Crusader insisted that Fejona was mulling over an invitation into the cabal, and Z was certain that she would accept in due time. Suddenly, the two were joined by Iceman of all people! Jenna was worried, until Z calmed her nerves down: he had summoned Iceman, who as it turned out was the newest member of the cabal! Jenna was more than flabbergasted, and watched as Iceman and Z took their leave, taking over future plans.

In an interesting change of pace, the Finnish fans found themselves being barked at by a young man dressed all ghetto. He definitely didn’t spit hot fire, and was in fact quite awful in his raps. He did manage to introduce himself as Antione MacDaniels, and requested for two things. PCP and anybody at all to fight. Nobody in the audience even knew what PCP was, so Antione asked the fans in the front row behind the Broadcast Booth for weed. No luck. But, Antione did get a response to his second request. Unfortunately for him, it happened to be Ryan Billows answering the call for the open challenge. It took Billows all of 30 seconds to secure the win; he ducked a sloppy clothesline attempt from Antione and immediately struck with his trademark LOST Kick. Thereafter, Billows destroyed Antione with his Cause For Concern finisher and picked up the easy win. Without any emotion whatsoever, The Risen Lion calmly exited the ring and retreated to the back, having barely broken a sweat.

The last stop backstage saw SilverHAWK speaking to ‘The One’ Jimmy Reid, who was free from his play-by-play duties for the night. Jimmy informed SilverHAWK that he was excited about all the young talent that ACW and the All-Star Academy were scooping up, but he had a lead on one particular upstart that nobody knew about. When SilverHAWK asked for more information, Jimmy was more than happy to explain: his adopted son and the heir to his legacy — ‘The Two’ Booster Reid! SilverHAWK was stunned, and Jimmy handed the General Manager a dossier on his adopted son, insisting that Booster would be ready to start at any time.

And finally, it was time for the main event of the evening. And what a treat it was for the fans in the stands and those watching online. On one side of the ring? Ulf German, Der Deutscher Soldat, William T. Rex and Abraham Swift. On the other side of the squared circle? Rud Albion, Orlando Grant, John Sarsgaard and Midnight Cowboy. It would be elimination rules, and right from the get-go, the action was fast and furious. Orlando was the first to draw blood, eliminating Der Deutscher Soldat following Big Shit Poppin’ finisher. Shortly after that, Ulf German got rid of Orlando thanks to Abraham Swift holding down OG’s legs and thereby preventing Orlando from kicking out. Abraham Swift went toe-to-toe with John Sarsgaard after that, and took advantage of Sarsgaard’s badly bruised state; yes, you got it. Abraham eliminated the #1 Contender to the Spirit Of ACW Championship after some tandem excellence. Alas, moments later, Rud Albion and Midnight Cowboy combined to take Abraham out of the equation. That left William T. Rex alone with Cowboy and Albion. Perhaps not so shockingly, Rex battled like a true fighter, taking the fight to the Bronze Lion and the Smooth Operator, using his vast experience to outwit Rud Albion and eliminate him following a sit-out chokeslam. That meant William T. Rex and Midnight Cowboy were the last two men standing. Several minutes later, Cowboy put Rex away with his Voices After Midnight finisher and secured the epic victory. Needless to say, the Finnish fans were delighted at the fantastic main event. A wonderful ending to a solid night of wrestling action.

RESULTS RECAP

* Fejona Min def. Iceman via STANDING 15-COUNT (7:30) to retain the ACW Scorpion Fighting Title.
* MIS & Koji Takada def. The SOBs via PINFALL (8:12).
* Sven Avsbern def. ‘Zen-Zational’ Zhang Tao via PINFALL (3:47).
* Kati def. Peter Phoenix via PINFALL (7:18).
* ‘Courageous’ Charlie Cusack & Jackie Cusack def. Malk Al-Haq & Kirzhov Vayzi via PINFALL (13:26).
* Ryan Billows def. Antione MacDaniels via PINFALL (0:30).
* Midnight Cowboy, Rud Albion, John Sarsgaard & Orlando Grant def. Abilities & Das Effiziente Reich via PINFALL (17:50) in a Eight-Man Tag Team Elimination Match.

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