<5/26/08 @ 11:22 PM PST>
- So 5 months "undr kunstrukson" and absolutely nothing to show for it. Why did
this happen? Well, there are a lot of complex reasons and no one person is to
blame. But if one person WAS to blame because they, hypothetically, COMPLETELY
dropped the ball, it would probably be a large Asian who is not Margaret Cho or
Takeshi Morishima. Hypothetically. But regardless, here we are, and it would
appear that we have everything between November 21 and now to report on, so
perhaps we should get to it. Month-by-month okay with you? Good.
- November. After the first two rounds of Best of the Rest, we took a
week off before the Finals. In that time, Scott Henson was able to make his
third successful defense of the ESW World Title, defeating Zeus McFly with the
Ka-Blamo 2K6. Also, Daniel Makabe and Allan Creasy took on Special K and
unlikely partner Nick Price, who had been somewhat aligned with Makabe and
Creasy as of late. This may have created more heat between Creasy and Price than
either wanted going into the Best of the Rest finals the next show.
- December. We kicked off the month with the Best of the Rest Finals. In
non-tournament action, Daniel Makabe beat Senor Cerveza after a failed attempt
by Cerveza to convince the referee that Makabe had hit him with an (unbroken)
light tube. Also, in a non-title match, Canadian Champion Special K went to a
double pin with Zeus McFly after a lengthy air guitar battle. As a result, they
agreed to a Canadian Title match several weeks down the line. And in the Best of
the Rest finals, Tony Baroni, Allan Creasy, and Nick Price did battle in the
first 3-Way finals of BOTR. Despite issues from the previous show, Creasy and
Price tried to work together somewhat, with varying success. In the end, Creasy
tried to throw powder in Baroni's eyes but missed and hit Price, who then hit
Creasy with the Price Check. Baroni then disposed of Price, and pinned
former-partner-turned-rival Allan Creasy with the Baroni Sandwich (Top-rope
Senton) to win Best of the Rest VII and join Bromine, PSYCH, Chris Mason, Allan
Creasy, and Daniel Makabe on the list of BOTR winners. This win also guaranteed
him a Canadian Title shot, which would not come into play until April. The next
week, the Richmond Horticultural Society of Zeus McFly and Mitch Deppen got the
band back together just over a year after their last match as a team, and scored
a huge win over Daniel Makabe and Allan Creasy. Things seem to have been on a
downturn for the dastardly duo of Makabe and Creasy as of late. The other match
that was supposed to happen that day was another team making a comeback, the
Miracle Violence Conspiracy of Scott Henson and Lenny D, taking on Special K &
Tony Baroni. Now, Henson had been very much on the same page as K and Baroni,
aligned with them against the Makabe-Creasy axis of evil, but Henson wanted to
bring his old partner into the mix as well and face a team he knew would give
him some good competition. However, Lenny D did not make it to the show, and
while Henson, Baroni, and K were discussing what to do, Daniel Makabe attacked
Scott Henson with a cinder block. With Makabe about to go for a second shot,
this time to Henson's head, Special K luckily stopped him, as K and Baroni
chased Makabe off. An injured and enraged Henson challenged Makabe to a match,
stating that they had not had their annual match yet and perhaps this was the
reason for Makabe's pent-up hostility toward him. Henson said he would be glad
to put the ESW World Title on the line if that's what it takes, and Makabe
accepted. Perhaps stemming from frustration over the recent goings-on, Makabe
took on Nick Price (who at one point was seeming to be joining Makabe and Creasy
full time) on December 23. Makabe got the win with two Trapper Keepers in an
excellent match. A big show was planned for December 30, but for the second
straight year, it got cancelled. Luckily THIS time the show was only postponed
for one week, as opposed to losing our entire venue for 7 months.
- January. So we began January 2008 with what was supposed to be the main
event of 2007. Red Money scored a big win in a 3 Way over Nick Price and Allan
Creasy. Zeus McFly claimed his Canadian Title shot against Special K after their
draw in December, and Special K was able to retain with a very cool Fisherman's
Suplex Clutch (Fisherman's Suplex followed by Small Package Hold). In the main
event, Scott Henson defended the ESW World Heavyweight Title, and his life,
against Daniel Makabe. They didn't get to have their match in 2007, but they got
to kick off 2008 with it. After Daniel Makabe STARTED the match with a Dan
Spike, things proceeded at an equally ridiculous rate, until Henson found
himself with Makabe in You Sunk My Battleship position, Makabe flipped out of
it, attempted another Dan Spike, but then maneuvered his way into hitting You
Sunk My Battleship ON Henson, and after that we had a new ESW World Champion in
Daniel Makabe. The following week, Scott Henson took on Red Money, and, in a
scary moment, Red Money completely crunched his neck as a result of Henson's
recently debuted move, the Awful Waffle. Despite the injury (severe soft tissue
damage to the neck), Money was able to not only kick out of the move, but to
actually come back and win the match after reversing a small package by Henson
out of a Jackhammer attempt. As a result of this injury, Red Money had to
consider retiring from wrestling, but his condition improved and he was
fortunately able to return in March. In the main, Tony Baroni and Allan Creasy
aimed to have a score-settler, but after a hot start followed by an
awe-inspiring series of kills, Baroni knocked Creasy out cold with an Asai
Legdrop to the floor. After that, the TKO victory via Just Facelock was
academic, the whole match barely going 6 minutes. While Baroni was undoubtedly
pleased that he won, this may not be the way he wanted to win. On the weekend of
January 19/20, Scott Henson and Daniel Makabe flew to Rhode Island for BYE9. On
the first day, Scott Henson defeated Jimmy Starbucks in a match that went all
over the building, and Daniel Makabe retained his newly-won (from Scott Henson)
ESW World Title against D-Smoothy, reversing his signature Orange Crush Bomb
into a Triangle Choke. Now, you've been hearing a lot about the ESW World Title
and practically nothing about the VCW Triple Crown. That's because, if you'll
remember, Arbo won the Triple Crown from Yakuza J at BYG5 in Pennsylvania in
August, and had been continuing to defend it in and around the state between
August and January. However, Arbo also made his way up to Rhode Island for BYE9,
and successfully defended the title against Russian sensation Aleksander Ivanov
on Day 1. Day 2 was the big deal, though. Daniel Makabe had the first chance to
bring the Triple Crown back to VCW since every member of VCW failed to do so
during BYWeek (culminating with an injured Daniel Makabe trying to win it back
at Backyard Fest X). Arbo and Daniel Makabe agreed to put BOTH of their belts on
the line in an Elimination 3 Way Dance that also involved Anarchy Andy. While
this was a chance to bring the VCW Title back home (along with the ESW Title, in
fact), there was also a 2-in-3 chance that BOTH titles would be going back to
Pennsylvania. Makabe brought those chances down to 1-in-2 after he pinned
Anarchy Andy with a Top Turnbuckle Trapper Keeper Bomb. Minutes later, after a
series with Arbo, Makabe was able to get retribution from BYFX, as he pinned
Arbo to both win the VCW Triple Crown (for a third time) and retain the ESW
World Title. This creates a somewhat unique situation. While Daniel Makabe is
not well liked in VCW ("universally hated" would be a more apt description), one
must think that the roster would be at least begrudgingly grateful to him for
bringing back the Triple Crown. Makabe stated that he plans on defending the VCW
and ESW Titles separately, so he looks to have a full plate upon his return.
Also that day, Scott Henson teamed with Myke Quest as they took on Rickey Crash
and partner Vinny Nothing in an excellent tag match, with Crash and Nothing
getting the pin on Quest with a crazy Orange Crush/Running Neckbreaker combo.
Back in VCW on the same weekend, Special K, Senor Cerveza, Nick Price, and Allan
Creasy had a 4-man round robin (For what? For nothing, of course!). Canadian
Champ Special K won, going undefeated with one tie to Cerveza, and Allan Creasy
going winless at 0-4. Between this performance and his KO at the hands of Tony
Baroni the previous week, Allan Creasy all but disappeared from VCW. This may or
may not have been a good thing for Daniel Makabe, as he now had two world titles
to defend and may not have had the time or means to have a full-time tag partner
as well.
- February. February... was uneventful. Literally. No events. This was
due to VCW being caught in the middle of a dispute over use of the ring that had
nothing to do with VCW. Luckily, it got resolved and we were back in March.
- March. In his first match since coming back from Rhode Island with the
VCW and ESW Titles, Daniel Makabe very quickly managed to erase any goodwill he
might have had with the roster, as he pranced out "stepping" to the sounds of
Ma$e, and proceeding to go for a swim in his pile of belts, Scrooge McDuck
style. The one other man in VCW with a belt, Canadian Champion Special K, came
out and put a stop to Makabe's tomfoolery. Makabe challenged him to a match with
no belts on the line (convenient) to prove who the better champion is. Things
were looking good for Special K after he hit his Corner Yakuza Kick and a
Northern Lights Suplex, but upon trying to roll over with the Northern Lights
Suplex (perhaps for a Minoru Special II) Makabe caught him in the Anaconda
Choke, and it was lights out very quickly. Also on that show, Chris Mason made
his first appearance since Best of the Rest in November, teaming with Scott
Henson and Tony Baroni in an unsuccessful effort against the Richmond
Horticultural Society and Nick Price. This was mainly due to the interference by
Lenny D on Chris Mason late in the match leading to the pin. No one knows
Lenny's reasoning for the attack or his unexpected appearence, but perhaps it
will become more clear soon. The next week, just 5 months after Survival of the
Illest 2007, we began SOTI 2008, trying to get back to our regular annual
schedule with SOTI traditionally being early in the year. Scott Henson, Daniel
Makabe, Senor Cerveza, and both Red Money (making his return from injury) and
Nick Price, via a double countout, advanced to the finals, which, for the first
time, were not the same day as the show. In fact, they still haven't happened,
but will likely take place either June 8 or June 15. In his qualifying match
against Mitch Deppen, who was able to kick out of the Screwdriver Emerald
Frosion before falling to the Ka-Blamo 2K6, Henson cracked a bone in his thumb,
which kept him out of action for several weeks, inculding VCW vs. The World 5...
which we should talk about now. VVTW4 was probably the most successful event of
all time. But it was also the most stressful. We didn't know if we had a venue
for the show and its 19 fly-ins until 3 days before the show. Determined not to
have to deal with this issue again, VCW did not announce VVTW5 until we were
positive that the venue was secured. However, the timing was not great: if
you'll recall the dispute in February left us without a rnig for several weeks.
This didn't get cleared up until March 8, and people would need to fly in for
VVTW5 on March 21, less than two weeks later. Nevertheless, we announced the
show on March 8 and still got 7 fly-ins, which is quite remarkable. It was the
first one-day VVTW show, and it went very well. Drew Cordeiro (accompanied by an
injured Kootz) fell to Senor Cerveza's Bottle Cap in the opener. Red Money
picked up his hot streak where he left off when he got injured, getting the
final pin on AMP in an Elimination 5 Way with a crazy Top-rope Jackhammer. In
his first official VCW match since VVTW4 one year earlier, Lenny D took on the UK's Alex
McConnell (originally scheduled as Scott Henson vs. Alex McConnell) in a hell of
a sprint, with McConnell getting the huge win with a cringe-worthy High Angle
Pyramid Driver. Going for his V6 Canadian Title defense, Special K took on
CWF-by-way-of-Michigan wrestler Joe Gonad. After a scary moment where Gonad did
a cartwheel on his head on the concrete floor, Special K secured the win with a
very cool Top-rope Inward Darkness Buster. In another first-time high-profile
match, Nick Price fought Tennessee's Rigor Mortis, going down to a Top-rope
Flying John Walters, which nobody is getting up from. The main event say Daniel
Makabe defending the ESW World Title against St. Louis native Dangerous Dave
Devereaux. These two have met before during the Danger Dave weekend in 2006
where they went to a 20 minute draw and at VVTW4 in 2007 where Makabe and Allan
Creasy took on Devereaux and Rigor Mortis in a losing battle. This time, they
had a 60 minute time limit and damn near used all of it. Daniel Makabe pinned
Dangerous Dave at a time of 49 minutes and 24 seconds, by far the longest
singles match in VCW history, and the second longest overall match in VCW
history (behind the 60 Minute Iron Man tag match from January 2006). Despite it
not being on as grand a scale as VVTW4 and only being one day of wrestling as
opposed to the usual two, the consensus seemed to be that the show, along with
the hangouts, meals, activities, and general good times, made for one of the
most fun and enjoyable supershow weekends ever.
- April. A series of screwups resulted in there being only two shows in
April, one of which was a big one: the 6 Year Wrestleplex Anniversary. Big, and
eventful. If you'll remember back to the December write-up that you read 4 hours
ago, you'll recall that Tony Baroni won the Best of the Rest and with it, a VCW
Canadian Title shot. Well, Baroni pulled in all his favours with the VCW brass
and instead got himself an ESW World Title shot against Daniel Makabe, as he
didn't want to face his friend Special K for his Canadian title. Baroni also announced
that this would be his final VCW match and as his parting gift would take the
title off Daniel Makabe. Makabe used some bureaucratic trickery of his own,
though, as he was able to implement a specal referee, who shockingly turned out
to be Allan Creasy, making his first VCW appearence in over 3 months. Things
seemed to be going Makabe's way until he attempted to cheat and was stopped by
Creasy, even more to Makabe's surprise than the crowd's. This led to Baroni
being able to apply the Just Facelock and win the ESW World Heavyweight Title,
to much celebration and frivolity, as well as a fine way for both Baroni and
Allan Creasy to end their VCW tenures. Nick Price defeated Scott Henson and
Senor Cerveza in a 3 Way Dance, after turning a Premium Bridge attempt on Henson
into the Price Check and transitioning right into the Border City Stretch. The
scheduled main event was Special K defending the Canadian Title against Red
Money, who had earned the shot with his recent string of wins. Special K hit a
flurry of arm-based attacks, and looked to finish it with a Minoru Special II,
but upon rolling back, Red Money cradled him for the surprise pin to win his
first title in just over 4 years with VCW. This is the second time Special K has
been caught doing Northern Lights Suplex-type maneuvers (the first being Daniel
Makabe's Anaconda Choke in March); he'll have to watch that. After the match,
Tony Baroni came out to offer his friend and sometimes partner Special K a
chance to end the night differently, and offered him a shot at the ESW World
Title that he had won not 2 hours earlier. A grateful Special K jumped at the
chance, and barely 3 minutes later after a Darkness Buster, we had our second
new ESW World Heavyweight Champ of the night and our THIRD title change of the
night, which we're pretty sure is a record for us.
- May. May, like February, was bad. Three shows were planned for the
month of May, none of which happened because it's REALLY hard to have a show
when the building with the ring in it is locked.
- And here we are at the end of May. No show June 1, as several VCW members will
be at the Rigor Mortis hosted Civil War Supershow in Tennessee. Then we're back
to usual on June 8. But not for a great deal longer. Tony Baroni and Allan
Creasy are finished, Nick Price may have one more match, Daniel Makabe is
talking retirement later in the year, and at this point we're really not in the
business of finding new people to fill the void. So with that said, we're
looking to wrap up what will be an 8+ year legacy on Labour Day Weekend this
year (August 30/31) with "VCW: kthxbye." We'll deal with that in more detail as
we get closer to it, and hopefully it'll be a pretty big deal. Between now and
then, we've got two big supershows (along with the regular weekly shows; we're
not stopping those), which will in fact occur back to back on June 29 and July
6: the 300th Show and the 9th Annual (few days after) Canada Day Massacre. One
big match signed for the 300th show is a unification match of the VCW and ESW
Titles between Daniel Makabe and Special K to create the Quadruple Crown,
providing both are still champion at that time.
- Lots of other housekeeping stuff to update you on. All the Results and
Win/Loss and whatnot are all up to date. The Title Histories have been fancied
up a bit. There's a few new music videos and promos in Multimedia. The Info
section has been split into Awards/Tournaments and Other Info. Speaking of
which, the 2007 Awards are up (and have been for some time, but we haven't
updated since then). So go look around, have fun, it's a party. It's good to be
back, if only for a little while.
Old News:
2008: January, February, March, April
2007:
January, February,
March, April,
May, June,
July, August,
September, October,
November, December
2006:
January, February,
March, April,
May, June,
July, August,
September, October,
November, December
2005:
January, February,
March, April,
May, June,
July, August,
September, October,
November, December
2004:
January, February,
March, April,
May, June,
July, August,
September, October,
November, December
2003: January,
February, March,
April,
May, June,
July, August,
September, October,
November, December
2002: November, December