HCW Wrestling Newsletter 2019 #749 – Tacoma Thunder (02/17)

Hello fans and welcome to another installment of HCW’s Tacoma Thunder show.  Things continue to build up to our ‘Reigning Royalty’ PPV that is only one week away.  The show is sold out in Tacoma however you can still catch it live on PPV TV.  Before the PPV though comes our Supershow in Phoenix commemorating our 750^th published issue of the Wrestling Newsletter.  More details on that to follow. 

The show begins back in the office of GM Max McGillicutty.  Max is working away when the door to his office is kicked open and in comes the Hardcore Champion Apollo Gyze.  Max stands up and Apollo begins to stammer and then he says he can’t seem to find the words.  He says it is inconceivable that he is not the World Champion after pinning Texas Wildfire.  Max tells him that neither belt were on the line so it was just one man against the other.  Apollo begins to accuse Max of holding him down.  “How are we holding you down when you are the Hardcore Champion?  You know what, nevermind.  You want to throw your weight around like a big man on campus, well, you have a match tonight.”  Apollo says he wasn’t given the appropriate notice for a title defense so he is not defending the title.  “Fine but you have a match regardless.  Better hope you don’t lose.  Oh, and for your sake, that better have not been you making those threats to Master Bull or things will get challenging for the next 5 to 10.”  Apollo says that he’s being framed but knows the system is against him.  He grabs his title and leaves the room.

The show kicks off with our first match of the night.  First, Shawn ‘Abs of Stone’ Austin makes his way out to the ring to booing from the fans.  As he’s been doing as of late, he grabs signs from the fans and tears them to pieces.  He gets in the ring and begins to pose (the fans don’t care for that) but then his interlude is interrupted when the music changed and out comes the Wicked Prophet.  Prophet has an extremely impressive win/loss record as he has only lost one match since his debut.  Austin goes on the offensive hitting a low blow and a near fall in the first few minutes of the match.  It took a few moments before WP was able to begin battling back and taking the match to Austin.  5 minutes in, Prophet locks in the Crucifixion Clutch but Austin eye rakes him to break the hold.  2 minutes later, Abs hits a Fisherman’s Suplex and goes for a pin of his own but Prophet easily kicks out.  Shawn connects with an arm drag but is distracted when he sees Maximillian Redbeard sitting at ringside.  Wicked Prophet hits the Smite and follows it up with another Crucifixion Clutch.  This time, he had Shawn trapped in the middle of the ring and Austin had no choice but to tap out.  The Wicked Prophet gets the win and increases his winning percentage which now would put him in clear line of sight for a title shot of some sort.  Prophet celebrates with the fans before making his way to the back.  In the crowd, we see Redbeard get up and apparently he was sitting on a fan and when he got up, the poor guy breathed a sigh of relief.  (9 min)

We go back to Max’s office and he is joined the Tag Team Champs Scooter J and TNT.  They say that with both the Flyers and the Jacks otherwise preoccupied, they don’t have a team to fight at the PPV.  Just then, the Axe and Superstar Chic Monroe walk in to throw their names into a hat.  Just before Max could sign off on that, Superquake Ferguson & Maximillian Redbeard also walk into Max’s office and say they want to be considered also.  Max says the two teams will meet tonight with the winner between the two going to the PPV next week.

We head back to the ring for our next match which will be a non-title match for the Hardcore Champion.  First, Outback Oscar comes out to a good pop from the crowd.  He takes time with the fans as he makes his way down to the ring.  Next, we hear blaring over the loudspeakers “APOLLO GYZE DON’T APOLOGIZE” and out comes the Hardcore Champion. Apollo ignores the taunting from the fans and gets into the ring complaining to the ref.  The ref had to tell him a few times that his belt is NOT on the line but he doesn’t seem to get it.  The ref finally gives up and calls for the match to begin.  Apollo yells that he is not ready but Oscar goes on the offensive locking in the outback stretch.  Oscar continues to concentrate his moves on Apollo’s midsection and back with slams and suplexes.  Apollo at one point tried to leave but Oscar threw him back into the ring.  Apollo once more went to bitch to the ref but Oscar locked in the Outback Stretch again and this time, he got Apollo to tap out.  Outback Oscar gets the win but the title was not on the line so he doesn’t win the title but maybe next time.  Apollo grabs his title from the ref and walks to the back but he is ambushed by Hardcore Hensen.  Hensen beats Apollo down but the champ is quick and he manages to get away.  (7 min for the match; 5 for the aftermath)

Backstage, there is a confrontation between former teammates Jacques Beannot and Nix Anderson.  Nix makes fun of Jacques’ accent and is challenged by Jacques to a match tonight.  Nix accepts and walks away laughing.  Jacques stands there stewing.

We go back to the ring for the next match.  Bishop Ripley makes his way out first to a small pop from the crowd.  Next, the fans are on their feet as one half of the Tag Team Champions TNT comes out.  He shakes a few of the fans hands and then makes his way into the ring.  Ripley immediately attacks TNT forcing the match to begin and he holds the advantage throughout the entire match.  After a couple of cheap shots behind the ref’s back, Ripley hits the Alien Resurrection on TNT and rolls him up (with a foot on the ropes) and gets the 1-2-3.  Ripley gets the win and showboats in the ring.  TNT begins to ‘hulk up’ and then goes to town on Bishop before ending it with the TNT.  The fans pop as TNT makes his way to the back.  Ripley follows shortly thereafter. (9 min)

HCW’s forensic accountant/scientist/investigator Gardinia Blue walks into Max’s office and states she now knows who made the threatening remarks to Master Bull but asks to not reveal it until the day after the PPV show just because she doesn’t want to potentially ruin the card.  Max asks if that person is on the PPV but Gardinia says it is a member of the roster but that is all she wants to reveal at this time.  She’ll have this conversation with Master Bull too.  Max agrees to wait but says he will want the police on hand for when the reveal is made…for the fan’s sake as well as Master Bull’s.

Once again, we make our way back to the ring for the next match.  First, Leslie Grimes makes her way out to some boos from the crowd.  Next, the music hits and out comes HCW’s most positive individual Hayley Hailstone.  For some reason, she is not her normal cheery self.  She’s holding the broken remnants of the trophy she received that was destroyed at the hands of Ravishing Raquel.  Leslie tried to capitalize on an otherwise preoccupied Hayley and goes right after her but Hayley still stood her ground.  In fact, the longer the match went on, the angrier Hayley became and took it all out on Leslie.  This went on for a whopping 25 minutes.  Finally, when it appeared she’d had enough, Hayley connected with the Flirting with Danger knee smash and got the easy 1-2-3.  Hayley gets a louder pop than when she came out and we think she’s finally turning that frown upside down but then she sees the box with her broken trophy in it but instead of falling back into her funk, she picks up the box and makes her way to the back with a smile on her face.  (26 min)

We cut to the back where we see World Champion Texas Wildfire arriving.  Tonight, there will be a contract signing between him and the Banker.  He makes his way into the building and is making a beeline to the GM’s office.

It’s back to the ring for more action.  First, Nix Anderson makes his way out to a pop from the crowd.  He struts down to the ring confidently.  Once in the ring, the music changes and out comes ‘the Singapore Sensation’ Matt Preacher.  Preacher then introduces us to France’s greatest athlete Jacques Beannot.   The fans boo the crap out of him.  He selectively flips off certain fans and laughs when they are slow to react.  He makes his way down to the ring.  He tries to enter but Nix cuts him off.  Jacques complains to the ref and tells him to back Nix up so he can get in the ring.  Finally, Nix backs up so that Jacques can enter.  The match begins and at the same time, Nix hits the Nixinator and Jacques hits a flying five arm.  Both men go down and it takes almost a minutes for the two of them to make it back to their feet.  Preacher then gets involved and the advantage sways to the Frenchman.  Jacques locks in the Spreadsheet but Nix makes it to the ropes to break the hold.  Preacher attacks Nix from behind and Jacques locks in the Canadian, err, I mean, French Cloverleaf but Nix won’t submit.  After more action, Jacques catches Nix with a flying bodypress and a quick cover but Nix kicks out.  Jacques locks in a sleeperhold and tries for a pin but only gets a 2 count.  11 minutes in, Nix gets fed up with Preacher’s interference and chases him around the ring but the manager stays one step ahead and avoids any retaliation.  Nix rolls back in only to get caught up in the Spreadsheet but he makes it to the ropes to break the hold.  Jacques is clearly becoming frustrated.  Jacques attempts to lock in the Spreadsheet twice but Nix nullified it both times.  As we entered the final minute of the match, Jacques went for the Spreadsheet at the same time Nix went for the Acoustic Equalizer and both went down.  Nix was to his feet first and hit the Nix Strut.  Preacher jumped up on the apron and hit Nix from behind but before the ref could disqualify him, the bell rang bringing this one to a draw finish.  But Nix was not done.  He got his hands on Preacher and looked to the fans for approval to pummel the manager but Jacques grabbed Preacher and pulled him to safety before Nix could do anything.  This one ends in a draw.  Preacher threatened Nix from outside the ring and as soon as Nix went to leave, he and Jacques just left (a little faster than they normally would have…maybe?)  (20 min draw)

We are back in GM Max McGillicutty’s office for the World Title match contract signing between Texas Wildfire and the Banker.  Max tells both men that he will not allow any retaliation starting this very minute and when their match officially begins.  Max states that any altercation between the two will forfeit the match.  The Banker thought he was getting the shaft on this deal but his manager Ruth Heartless whispered something in his ear which caused him to smile.  He immediately signed the contract and then pushed it to Texas Wildfire.  TW, thinking something may be up, took his time to actually read the contract.  He got about half way down and saw something that made him smile immediately back.  The Banker gave a quizzical look.  TW signed the contract and handed it to Max.  Max tells the two men to shake hands which they do reluctantly.  The Banker and Ruth then leave.  Texas Wildfire smiles and shakes hands with Max and then he leaves also.

It is time for our main event.  This will be to determine who will go on to meet the World Tag Team Champions Scooter J and TNT at the PPV.   First, the Tag Team Champions came out first to a nice pop from the crowd.  They go sit at commentary so that they can scout the match.  Maximillian Redbeard and Superquake Ferguson come out first to a nice pop from the crowd.  Once in the ring, their opponents the Axe and Superstar Chic Monroe come out to the same reaction from the crowd.  Once in the ring, all four men shook hands and the bell rang starting this one off.  Redbeard starts off with an Asgard bodyslam on the Axe and follows it up with the Mac Attack.  The Axe locks in a side headlock but Redbeard hip tosses him.  Axe tags Chic in.  Chic hits a gutwrench suplex but Redbeard hits him with the Knoggin Stomp and goes for a pin but only gets a 2 count.  The Axe hits the ring and he and Chic double team Redbeard.  Just then, Angry Jack Lawson and Mean Jack Mason sneak in from the crowd and pull Superquake down from the apron.  A double kick to the gut is followed by a double chokeslam on the floor.  They then went and hid in the crowd.  Maximillian hit a scissors kick but Chic hit a Straight Jacket suplex.  Chic went for the pin and without anyone to make the save for Redbeard, he got the 1-2-3.  The Axe and Superstar Chic Monroe get the win and will be going to the PPV to meet the Tag Champs.  Redbeard sees what transpired and calls out the Jacks.  He called for the Jacks to try and attack him solo.  Mean Jack Mason said that right now, Redbeard and Ferguson have dropped to the bottom of the “I don’t give a shit” list and once they take care of the Flyers, the Champs will be next and then maybe, they’ll give Redbeard and Ferguson the time of day.  They walk off laughing.  Redbeard goes to help Ferguson to his feet and the two leave.  (6 min)

Thanks for reading.  Our Phoenix Supershow will be up next commemorating our 750^th issue of the Wrestling Newsletter.  There will be another #1 contender’s match between Hayley Hailstone and Violet Valkyrie…this time, there must be a winner.  Finally, there will be a tournament to see who will go on to meet King Rad Gumbo for a shot at the crown.  Stay Tuned as it’s going to be a doozy.