Some in-character IWC stuff which touches on EXODUS
Jun 19, 2013 12:53:31 GMT -6
The Karma Keeper likes this
Post by styg on Jun 19, 2013 12:53:31 GMT -6
The below was presented on WARPED Wrestling a few weeks ago as a fictional entry on Tom Holzerman's The Wrestling Blog. I wrote it, but TH gave me permission to present it, in-character, as if it was written by him, for which I am very grateful. It touches on some EXODUS-related stuff so I figured people here might get a kick out of it 
A dirtsheet which specialises in grade A bullshit also had this to say:
There's something which has always been a sickness in wrestling, but is recently becoming a plague. No, not The Plague, although at this rate, they might be part of it too.
Two different events in the last week highlight the problem. First, it was announced that Zack Lifer has joined LEGION. It's depressing enough to type that sentence purely for the fact that EXODUS Pro still hasn't managed to cut LEGION out. But the addition of Lifer to their ranks means LEGION have to be viewed in a new light. Lifer is a man with fingers in a lot of pies and connections in many, many parts of the wrestling world. LEGION have already shown that they're not satisfied with their war against EXODUS thanks to Daisuke Iwakuma and Kameron Chase's extended stay in Kingdom of Japan Pro-Wrestling; with the assistance of someone like Lifer, there's every chance we could be seeing LEGION footsoldiers show up just about anywhere from this point on. Even major companies like Full Throttle Wrestling and Platinum Dynasty Wrestling have to be looking over their shoulders.
The second event has maybe less far-reaching ramifications, but is more immediately troubling. Not content with running rampant in WARPED, AbominationZ showed up at Pro Wrestling FRONTIER's iPPV and orchestrated a beatdown on Jay Pride, shortly after Pride had beaten AbominationZ' William Wallace in a match which was supposed to be a showcase of Scotland's two GFC World Heavyweight Champions meeting for the first time. Fortunately Pride's associates Laurel Anne Hardy and Leanne Evangelista put aside their differences with The E.N.D. to make the save, but AbominationZ' de facto leader, Crowbar, promised that they weren't done in FRONTIER and implied they'd take down FRONTIER just as they're very close to doing with WARPED.
It's bad enough that neither WARPED nor EXODUS can keep their own houses in order, but now they're letting these rogue factions threaten other companies too. I don't know the ins and outs of EXODUS' legal department, but I know Rufus Frost and Jon Collins aren't idiots. They must have looked into what the law can do to keep LEGION out of EXODUS and to protect their roster members. But how much is there? Is persecution from insane rebel factions intent on tearing down the company part of the job description - an occupational hazard of being a wrestler? In the case of AbominationZ and WARPED, it's even trickier, since Crowbar is on the executive board. But none of AbominationZ have FRONTIER contracts, and none of LEGION have KJPW contracts. Hanna Fox has every right to have security throw AbominationZ out as soon as they show their faces in FRONTIER, and the same goes for Kazuma Fujita in KJPW if Iwakuma and Chase (or any of their buddies) return.
The idea that a rebel faction can destroy its own parent company isn't just fantasy. Remember the once-mighty Global Extreme Wrestling? One of the most critically acclaimed companies of the naughties, with a rabid, worldwide fanbase, and it was taken down by a handful of midcarders and outsiders. Chelsea Reed defrauding her own company was the deathblow, of course, but GEW was on life support by that point anyway. The Asylum sucked the will to fight from GEW's roster and Reed seemed more concerned with trying to use them against her own family than with keeping them out and keeping her company going. Even if it was Reed's finger on the trigger, it was The Asylum who loaded, cocked and handed her the gun which killed GEW.
Let's not forget that one of the biggest victims of both The Asylum's crusade and Reed's madness was her own half-brother: Kameron Chase, now one of the inner circle of LEGION. Ladies and gentlemen, in case you needed any more proof of how fucked up the wrestling world is. GEW's greatest star, the man who figuratively lost his home and his life to the actions of The Asylum, is now doing exactly the same thing to another company.
There is one tiny bit of hope, though. The two members of The Asylum whom Reed most punished Chase with? Laurel Guerra and Leanne Fontaine... now better known in WARPED and FRONTIER as Hardy and Evangelista, and ironically, the two individuals who've opposed AbominationZ the hardest. Even though Hardy and Evangelista haven't much to say since the last WARPED and FRONTIER shows, the little they have said is clear: this is war. Jason Richards, Dylan Daniels and Hugo Strange all claim to be on the same side in fighting AbominationZ, too, although so did Wallace and PKA, and look how that turned out.
Even so, if the likes of Hardy and Evangelista can learn from their mistakes, there's hope for anyone. But it's a drop in the ocean. Wrestlers need to organise and oppose these renegade stables in unified fronts, promoters and executives need to have the guts to cut out cancers as soon as they appear, and the law needs to be clear on what recourse can be taken against groups like LEGION and AbominationZ. Otherwise, how many of today's companies will go the way of GEW?
Two different events in the last week highlight the problem. First, it was announced that Zack Lifer has joined LEGION. It's depressing enough to type that sentence purely for the fact that EXODUS Pro still hasn't managed to cut LEGION out. But the addition of Lifer to their ranks means LEGION have to be viewed in a new light. Lifer is a man with fingers in a lot of pies and connections in many, many parts of the wrestling world. LEGION have already shown that they're not satisfied with their war against EXODUS thanks to Daisuke Iwakuma and Kameron Chase's extended stay in Kingdom of Japan Pro-Wrestling; with the assistance of someone like Lifer, there's every chance we could be seeing LEGION footsoldiers show up just about anywhere from this point on. Even major companies like Full Throttle Wrestling and Platinum Dynasty Wrestling have to be looking over their shoulders.
The second event has maybe less far-reaching ramifications, but is more immediately troubling. Not content with running rampant in WARPED, AbominationZ showed up at Pro Wrestling FRONTIER's iPPV and orchestrated a beatdown on Jay Pride, shortly after Pride had beaten AbominationZ' William Wallace in a match which was supposed to be a showcase of Scotland's two GFC World Heavyweight Champions meeting for the first time. Fortunately Pride's associates Laurel Anne Hardy and Leanne Evangelista put aside their differences with The E.N.D. to make the save, but AbominationZ' de facto leader, Crowbar, promised that they weren't done in FRONTIER and implied they'd take down FRONTIER just as they're very close to doing with WARPED.
It's bad enough that neither WARPED nor EXODUS can keep their own houses in order, but now they're letting these rogue factions threaten other companies too. I don't know the ins and outs of EXODUS' legal department, but I know Rufus Frost and Jon Collins aren't idiots. They must have looked into what the law can do to keep LEGION out of EXODUS and to protect their roster members. But how much is there? Is persecution from insane rebel factions intent on tearing down the company part of the job description - an occupational hazard of being a wrestler? In the case of AbominationZ and WARPED, it's even trickier, since Crowbar is on the executive board. But none of AbominationZ have FRONTIER contracts, and none of LEGION have KJPW contracts. Hanna Fox has every right to have security throw AbominationZ out as soon as they show their faces in FRONTIER, and the same goes for Kazuma Fujita in KJPW if Iwakuma and Chase (or any of their buddies) return.
The idea that a rebel faction can destroy its own parent company isn't just fantasy. Remember the once-mighty Global Extreme Wrestling? One of the most critically acclaimed companies of the naughties, with a rabid, worldwide fanbase, and it was taken down by a handful of midcarders and outsiders. Chelsea Reed defrauding her own company was the deathblow, of course, but GEW was on life support by that point anyway. The Asylum sucked the will to fight from GEW's roster and Reed seemed more concerned with trying to use them against her own family than with keeping them out and keeping her company going. Even if it was Reed's finger on the trigger, it was The Asylum who loaded, cocked and handed her the gun which killed GEW.
Let's not forget that one of the biggest victims of both The Asylum's crusade and Reed's madness was her own half-brother: Kameron Chase, now one of the inner circle of LEGION. Ladies and gentlemen, in case you needed any more proof of how fucked up the wrestling world is. GEW's greatest star, the man who figuratively lost his home and his life to the actions of The Asylum, is now doing exactly the same thing to another company.
There is one tiny bit of hope, though. The two members of The Asylum whom Reed most punished Chase with? Laurel Guerra and Leanne Fontaine... now better known in WARPED and FRONTIER as Hardy and Evangelista, and ironically, the two individuals who've opposed AbominationZ the hardest. Even though Hardy and Evangelista haven't much to say since the last WARPED and FRONTIER shows, the little they have said is clear: this is war. Jason Richards, Dylan Daniels and Hugo Strange all claim to be on the same side in fighting AbominationZ, too, although so did Wallace and PKA, and look how that turned out.
Even so, if the likes of Hardy and Evangelista can learn from their mistakes, there's hope for anyone. But it's a drop in the ocean. Wrestlers need to organise and oppose these renegade stables in unified fronts, promoters and executives need to have the guts to cut out cancers as soon as they appear, and the law needs to be clear on what recourse can be taken against groups like LEGION and AbominationZ. Otherwise, how many of today's companies will go the way of GEW?
A dirtsheet which specialises in grade A bullshit also had this to say:
Sources within LEGION say that The UK Dragons, Laurel Anne Hardy and
Evangelista, have been meeting with "The Ninth Gate" Kameron Chase and
Daisuke Iwakuma. Chase is of course an old friend-turned-enemy of the
Dragons and it seems like they've buried the hatchet. Hardy and
Evangelista will be facing LEGION's Sabra Nikolayev and Gryphon at Legal
Punishment, which our source suggests might be an evaluation or
initiation into LEGION. The Dragons are reported to be fed up of WARPED
Wrestling's inability to put a leash on AbominationZ and are very close
to jumping ship to EXODUS Pro.
- Scout
Evangelista, have been meeting with "The Ninth Gate" Kameron Chase and
Daisuke Iwakuma. Chase is of course an old friend-turned-enemy of the
Dragons and it seems like they've buried the hatchet. Hardy and
Evangelista will be facing LEGION's Sabra Nikolayev and Gryphon at Legal
Punishment, which our source suggests might be an evaluation or
initiation into LEGION. The Dragons are reported to be fed up of WARPED
Wrestling's inability to put a leash on AbominationZ and are very close
to jumping ship to EXODUS Pro.
- Scout