devo

Awesome opening promo between Toxxic and Pretzler. I really enjoy their exchanges, and this one is no exception. Them agreeing to ignore the Hardcore rules speaks volumes about both characters. DICKISH PRE-MATCH ASSAULT~! starts off the Cortez/Johnson match well, and it only gets better from there. Great table spots. I gotta say, though, at times the unnamed commentary can be really confusing. Pretzler, in his second great promo of the night, gets rid of any doubts one might have about him being handed the CW Title. The bit at the end is really well written. Wrote the Toxxic/ELM promo. Watch out for the THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMP ROUND ROBIN~! I tried to have some fun with the House Rules stip. Let me know how that turned out. =) Cool promo from Zyon. I'm really enjoying watching his character develop. Zangief! I can't believe he didn't use the Final Atomic BUSTAAAAAAH. Oh yeah, and Ejiro defends the title. Not sure what's going on with that match. If that's the Cortez/Maddix breakup, it was done really well. I actually feel kinda bad for Maddix and sympathize with him quite a bit. Also, I laughed out loud at "$5 for nachos?!" Another fantastic match between Toxxic and Pretzler. It was fascinating watch the match escalate, and I knew at some point that their agreement would be violated. I was surprised that it took until the end of the match, but it makes perfect sense if you think about it. Toxxic's caught so off guard by the Flying Oklahoma Roll on the outside that Pretzler manages to get a pin off of it. The beginning to the Zyon/WC/Hawke match is funny as hell. Nonstop insanity all the way through, here, as is usually the case with Triple Threat matches. In fact, the whole match is filled with great spots that take advantage of both the Triple Threat and Hardcore spots. Also, the bit with WC getting the kid to slap Hawke was great.

Fantastic game at Shea tonight. Mets pull out a hard-fought 7-6 victory, and the one person I do not want to be right now is Mike Lowell.

Mets take advantage of two errors in a row from Lowell and score three runs, retaking the lead and bringing the game to 5-3 in the bottom of the 5th. Burnett's completely lost his composure. They're taking him out with one out, bases loaded.

Yeah. That's another reason I'm not too sympathetic towards Rogers.

And fined $50k, if I remember correctly. A stiff punishment to be sure, but deserved. Anyone stupid enough to attack two cameramen while being filmed deserves whatever they get.

Burnout 3 is the most fun I've had with a video game since Katamari Damacy. I picked it up earlier today for eighteen bucks (!) and have been playing it nonstop since. Of course the crash courses are terrific mindless fun, but the racing itslef is incredibly exciting and intuitive as well. I can't wait to see what the fourth in the series will have to offer.

Guess I'll make this topic again. >_> Ghost Machine writes another epic. Very nice work on the arm throughout the Hawke/Myers match, which ended with a really creative way to lock in the Wing Span. Also, the bit at the beginning with Hawke testing Myers was great. Goddamn Zyon, nice job. You're off to a hell of a start. Really good big/guy small guy match. I've said it before, but I enjoy your commentary very much. Terrific promo between Toxxic and Pretzler. The characters have great chemistry that makes their exchanges really fun to read. And of course, I really want to see what exactly Pretzler wants with Flesher. Goddamn, Ejiro's match had a breakneck pace to say the least. Excellent match, very fun read. Definitely made more use of the stip than I did. Great job. Congrats, WC and Johnny. Four-time Tag Team Champions, and in fantastic fashion. The midair Belly-to-Belly/Hurricanrana spot was awesome and fucking crazy at the same time. Fantastic match from Williams. The bit with Toxxic playing possum and suckering Danny in was brilliant. The entire match had a real epic feel to it and the post match shows a good bit of character development for Toxxic.

So, that brings his grand total to...three. Huh. Anyway, good game for the Mets. Pedro threw another gem, and the bullpen was unusually dependable for once. Woulda been nice to take advantage of some more of those RISP situations, but oh well. Win's a win.

Good call, I love Gunstar Heroes. I still laugh whenever the Great Final Soldier (complete with LOVE LOVE ATTACK) comes on the screen. SimGolf is a perfect example on how far a game can go on gameplay and nothing else. Said gameplay is fantastic, but the graphics are mediocre, there's lots of glitches, and the AI is insanely dumb. Still, you can't say too many bad things about a game that allows you to lay down fairway squares to the tune of "Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring".

This only adds veracity to my theory that you're trying to drive everyone you meet insane.

Yessir. I should have known better than to challenge you to a match that was your character. =)

Great game for the Mets tonight. Zambrano had another terrific start and actually got some offensive support this time. Also, Beltran had his first good night offensively in a while. A double, a triple, and his two outs were very well hit balls that would have been extra bases in almost any other park. Graves absolutely sucks, though. If the Mets thought he was the answer to their bullpen problems, they're sadly mistaken.

I felt this was pretty good, so here you go. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SWF Smarkdown inexplicably returns once again from a commercial break, showing the gigantic Bucharest National Stadium packed full of fans. They’ve been treated to a fantastic show so far and anxiously await the next match, murmuring excitedly amongst themselves as they do so. “UNO!” BOOM! “DOS!” BOOM! “TRES!” BOOM! “CUATRO!” BOOM! The relative calm is broken when a Mexican voice shouts the above numbers, a burst of pyro exploding from each turnbuckle in time with each shouted word! An impressive pop is released by the capacity crowd, who are heard throughout Bucharest as Bunch of Believers’ “Mission Trip to Mexico” blasts over the speakers, struggling to be heard over sixty thousand Romanians! A second later, El Luchadore Magnifico bursts out from behind the curtain, waving his Mexican flag as he smiles broadly at the gigantic crowd. ELM pauses at the top of the entrance ramp, posing with his symbolic flag as those with the benefit of flash photography bathe him in light. “The following match is for one fall, and follows cruiserweight rules!” Funyon announces. “Introudcing first, from Mexico City, Mexico, weighing in at two hundred and ten pounds...EL LUCHADOOOOOORE MAGNIFICOOOOOO!” Upon hearing his name, Magnifico breaks the pose and quickly strides down the entrance ramp. As ELM approaches the ring, he suddenly breaks into a run and slides beneath its bottom rope, gliding on his belly into the center of the squared circle. Magnifico then pops to his feet, heads to the nearest corner, and hops onto the second turnbuckle, where he begins waving his flag once more to the delight of the live audience. “And welcome back to SWF Lockdown!” LDP cries. “We’ve had an amazing show so far here in Bucharest, and it’s about to get even better!” “Damn straight!” affirms King. “We get to watch Ejiro cut Magnifico down to size and humiliate him in front of an international audience!” In the ring, ELM has hopped off of the turnbuckle and is handing his flag to the waiting referee. As Magnifico begins his pre-match warmup, an enthusiastic buzz still emanates from the crowd, as the fans know what’s coming next... POPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOP! The machine-gun like pyro lights up the night sky and assaults the ears of everyone in attendance, signaling the entrance for one Ejiro Fasaki! The man himself strides out from behind the curtain, decked out in his signature, customized robe and the always-fashionable World Title, strapped tightly around his waist. The epic strains of Tomoyasu Hotei’s “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” play over the stadium’s PA as the vast majority of the fans in attendance cheer for Fasaki, despite him acting like they don’t even exist. “And now, from Sarasota, Florida, weighing in at two hundred and twenty-three pounds,” Funyon begins, “He is the SWF World Heavyweight Champion...E-JIR-OOOOOOO FAH-SAH-KIIIIIIII!” Fasaki quickly reaches the ring and rolls beneath its bottom rope, then pops to his feet while Magnifico is still stretching in the corner. Ejiro locks his eyes on the luchadore while taking his belt off, and only breaks the gaze to turn to the ref and hand him the belt. When he does so, Fasaki sees the Mexican flag in the ref’s other hand. A mischevious grin slowly spreads across Ejiro’s face, and before the ref can do anything about it, Fasaki has already snatched the flag out of his hand. “Ejiro...Ejiro, maybe that’s not such a good idea.” LDP warns. Fasaki turns to the luchadore and begins mockingly waving the flag in his face, laughing cheerfully as he does so. Magnifico stops his stretching and just stares at Rule, while the sharply divided fans either cheer, laugh, or outright boo at Ejiro’s antics. After a second, Fasaki knocks it off, smiling at Magnifico and waving his hand dismissively at him. He turns and give the flag back to the ref, before turning back to the luchadore, ready to get the match started- *CRACK* -only to have Magnifico smash him in the chin with a strong right out of nowhere! Excited to have this match finally start, every fan in the building starts to cheer as ELM continues to wail away on Ejiro’s face, backing the stunned Fasaki up towards the ropes! The ref quickly stashes away the wrestler accesories in his posession and hastily signals for the bell. DING DING DING “I told you.” Longdogger says, shaking his head disapprovingly. “A terrible, underhanded move from Magnifico!” King cries, shocked. “How dare he attack Ejiro before the beginning of this contest?” “Gimme a break, King.” LDP counters, “You’ve done that yourself dozens of times.” “How DARE you, sir?” King responds, taken aback. “I bid you good day.” “But-“ “I said GOOD DAY, sir!” With Ejiro up against the ropes, ELM ends his assault and grabs Fasaki by the arm, intending to whip him across the ring. However, Ejiro manages to reverse said whip, sending Magnifico rushing towards the other side of the ring. ELM bounces off of the ropes, and at the same time, Fasaki charges right at the luchadore! As Magnifico comes off of the ropes, Ejiro drives his elbow forward, looking to slam it into the luchadore’s head with a Running Strike! ELM manages to duck beneath the elbow, however, and keeps on running, while Fasaki does the same! Magnifico and Fasaki bounce off of opposite ropes at nearly the same time, then come running back towards the center of the ring and each other! Suddenly, ELM leaps into the air and extends his arms and legs, looking to catch Ejiro off guard with a Flying Cross Body! Magnifico makes perfect contact with the maneuver, slamming his body into Ejiro’s chest as the fans raise a mighty cheer! However, as both men hit the ground, Fasaki rolls over Magnifico and grabs his arm, applying an Armlock as a surprised luchadore struggles to break free. Ejiro doesn’t let Magnifico wriggle free from his grasp, though, and begins wrenching back on his left arm while ELM grits his teeth, trying to deal with the pain that suddenly surges through his shoulder. “And Ejiro immediately begins working on the arm.” LDP reports, “The more Fasaki can keep ELM on the mat and work that arm, the more control he’ll have over the match.” “Not to mention the fact that it’ll make Magnifico’s arm completely vulnerable to the Cobra Crossface.” Adds King smugly. “Which I’m pretty sure is the whole point of the arm work, unless I’m wrong.” A moment passes. “And I’m not.” Everyone within ten feet of Pete hears him sigh, defeated, as Fasaki continues to wrench away at Magnifico’s arm. Eventually, ELM begins to drag himself towards the nearby ropes, and that’s the exact moment that Ejiro stands up and gets off of him. However, he keeps his grip on Magnifico’s left arm, using it to drag him to the center of the ring, right before he begins to stomp away at the luchadore’s prone shoulder. Ejiro lands five good stomps, well on his way to separting Magnifico’s shoulder, as the luchadore desperately tries to pull his arm free. Tired of the luchadore’s constant struggling, Fasaki stops stomping and releases Magnifico’s arm...only to drop an elbow on his shoulder a half second later! The sympathetic fans OHHH! as one as Magnifico rolls away from Fasaki, clutching his shoulder and grimacing in agony. Meanwhile, Fasaki leisurely makes his way back to his feet, smiling at his handiwork. “Fantastic arm work from Fasaki.” King declares. “He’s bounced back from Magnifico’s cowardly pre-match attack quite well.” “ELM’s got to keep off the mat for the rest of the match if he wants any chance to win this.” LDP notes. “His shoulder has already sustained a good bit of damage, and Ejiro will be looking to add to that damage at any given opportunity.” Struggling through the pain, Magnifico begins working his way back to his feet. But before he can reach them, Ejiro suddenly grabs him by the left arm and violently pulls him to his feet, sending another jolt of pain through his shoulder. As soon as ELM is on his feet, Fasaki uses his grip to whip him towards the far corner. Magnifico rushes across the ring and lands back-first in the corner, landing hard against its turnbuckles. Right after whipping ELM, Fasaki runs after him, and is right on top of the luchadore as he crashes into the corner! But ELM’s reflexes are terrific to say the least, and he’s able to get an elbow up and drive it into Ejiro’s face as he charges! Stunned, Fasaki turns away from Magnifico and stumbles towards the center of the ring, doing so as the luchadore hops onto the corner’s second turnbuckle. Scowling, Ejiro turns back towards the turnbuckle...cueing Magnifico to leap off of turnbuckle and at Fasaki, with his arm extended for a Flying Clothesline! But before ELM can land the Clothesline, Fasaki sidesteps the flying luchadore and grabs his left arm in mid-air! As Magnifico lands, Ejiro pulls the luchadore’s arm between his legs and hooks it, beginning the setup for the Cobra Crossface! “Quick counter from Ejiro, and it looks like he’s ready to lock in the Cobra Crossface!” LDP shouts. “ELM needs to escape quickly before Fasaki can lock the submission in and tear apart his damaged shoulder!” The fans immediately respond with cheers and shouts, but ELM doesn’t allow the next step in the setup to be executed, as he immediately begins clawing his way across the ring and towards the ropes! Fasaki struggles to get his hands around Magnifico’s face before he can reach the ropes, but it’s no use! ELM gets his hands on the ropes, and the ref forces a frustrated Fasaki to release his grip on Magnifico’s arm. “Ahhhh.” King grumbles, disappointed. “Oh well, it’s still early in the match. Fasaki will have plenty more of the luchadore’s embarassing mistakes to take advantage of.” Magnifico tries to get back to his feet before Ejiro can pull up by his arm again, but he’s not quick enough. As soon as Fasaki is on his feet, he grabs ELM by the left arm and brutally yanks him to his feet, drawing an audible groan of pain from the luchadore. Fasaki holds ELM in place with one hand, and with the other, begins bashing away at the luchadore’s shoulder, drawing sympathetic boos from the concerned crowd. As Magnifico winces and doubles over in pain, Ejiro continues to drive his fist into the luchadore’s prone shoulder with unmerciful ferocity. After an untold number of strikes, Ejiro wrenches ELM’s arm behind his back and into a Hammerlock, then grabs him by the leg and lifts him into the air! Magnifico’s only in mid-air for a second, though, as Ejiro immediately drives ELM into the ground shoulder first with a Hammerlock Body Slam! Magnifico yelps out in pain, but his cries are drowned out by the OHHHH! of the compassionate yet impressed crowd. “Yeah! Brilliant use of the Hammerlock Slam by Ejiro!” King excitedly announces. “Magnifico’s frail, girly arm must be in pieces by now!” Immediately after landing the slam, Ejiro grabs Magnifico by the left shoulder and roughly turns him onto his back, right before hooking the luchadore’s leg and covering him. The ref slides into position and begins counting, while boos and cheers rise simultaneously from the divided crowd... ONE... TWO...No! ELM kicks out right after the two count, wincing in pain as he does so. “While the Hammerlock Slam is very effective in weakening one’s shoulder,” LDP begins, “It’s unlilkely to ever put someone down for a three count. Ejiro would be wise to just keep working the shoulder over and not waste time trying for pinfalls.” Undeterred by the kickout, Fasaki grabs the luchadore by his arm and stands up, violently pulling Magnifico to his feet in the process. Ejiro keeps his grip on ELM’s arm as he carefully steps onto the second turnbuckle of the nearby corner, receiving no resistance from the seemingly docile luchadore. Fasaki takes a second to gain his balance...but that’s one second too many, as ELM suddenly throws his body forward and drives his head into Ejiro’s gut, doubling him over on the second rope! Fasaki’s grip on ELM’s arm weakens considerably, allowing Magnifico to pull it free. With Ejiro temporarily stunned on the second turnbuckle, Magnifico leaps into the air and kicks out with his feet, driving them into Fasaki’s face with a Flipping Dropkick! Ejiro’s body is knocked backwards and theatens to fall backwards over the corner post, but ELM’s not about to let that happen. As Fasaki’s back teeters over the top turnbuckle, Magnifico jumps back to his feet and quickly hops onto the second rope, putting himself eye to eye with Ejiro. Not wasting a second, ELM grabs Fasaki by the arm and then captures it next to his head! Struggling mightily, Magnifico lifts Ejiro into the air and falls backwards, pulling Fasaki over his head as he does so and slamming his skull into the canvas with a Second Rope Capture Suplex! The fans release an impressive pop upon seeing this, cheering excitedly as the two men lay on the mat, currently suffering from their particular ailments. “Fantastic Capture Suplex from Magnifico!” LDP declares. “But I can’t imagine that helped the stress on his shoulder any.” “Frankly, I’m surprised the scrawny bastard got Ejiro in the air in the first place.” King remarks. “Either way, it’s a terrible idea for ELM to use a move that puts such a strain on his shoulders, though I’m all for him making it easier for Fasaki to end the match.” Fasaki and ELM lay just a foot from each other; Ejiro staring blankly up into the lights, and Magnifico cradling his shoulder, struggling to deal with the pain that flows freely through it. ELM manages to put the pain out of his mind for a second and crawl over to Ejiro, draping his body over Fasaki’s as the fans cheer and shout in anticipation of a possible pinfall. Magnifico wearily hooks the leg, doing so as the ref falls into position and begins counting... ONE... TWO... TH-No! Fasaki gets a shoulder up at two and a half, drawing a few cheers and a lot of OHHH!s from the capacity crowd. “That’s not a good sign for Magnifico.” LDP grimly notes. “ELM’s going to have find another way to keep Ejiro down, because he’s not going to be able to execute many of those suplexes with an injured shoulder.” His face twisted in agony, ELM begins pulling himself to his feet, while Fasaki rolls onto his stomach, cradling his head in pain. Magnifico eventually stands and heads over to Ejiro, who’s trying his hardest to stand. Before he can do so, though, ELM grabs him by the arm and pulls him to his feet. But as soon as he’s standing, Ejiro suddenly drives his knee forward and slams it into Magnifico’s gut, doubling him over in the middle of the ring! The crowd releases a surprised OH! as Fasaki grabs ELM by the nape of his neck and the waist of his tights, allowing him to pull Magnifico with him as he runs towards the ropes! As he nears the ropes, Ejiro releases ELM and throws him forward, hurling him through the middle and top ropes and to the outisde! Tens of thousands of Romanians wince in unison as ELM crashes violently to the ground, hitting the cold, unyielding floor shoulder first! Magnifico lets out a low groan of anguish as the pain explodes from his shoulder and spreads through the rest of his body. “God...damn!” Pete exclaims, despite himself. “Fasaki just pitches Magnifico to the outside, and the luchadore unfortunately lands right on his damaged shoulder!” “I know, isn’t it great?” King exclaims, exuberant. “It would have hurt just being launched to the outside like he was, but Magnifico hitting the floor shoulder first makes it all the more satisfying!” In the ring, Ejiro rubs the back of his head and scowls angrily, still upset about being dropped on his skull a minute ago. After a second, he hits the ground and rolls to the outside, where Magnifico remains on the ground, cradling his shoulder. As the ref begins his count, Fasaki grabs ELM by his left arm and violently pulls him to his feet, doing so as the nearby fans jockey for position and try their best to get on television. Still gripping Magnifico’s arm, Ejiro takes a handful of the luchadore’s hair and hauls him over to a nearby corner pole, apparently looking to drive him into it, shoulder first! However, as Fasaki pulls ELM towards the post, Magnifico gets a foot up and puts it on the pole, keeping a leg’s length between him and a separated shoulder! Desperate to break free of Ejiro’s grip, Magnifico wildly throws his elbow backwards and slams it into Fasaki’s face! The first strike succeeds in only pissing Ejiro off, and it takes several more strikes until Fasaki finally relinquishes the grip! Fasaki turns away from the luchadore and stumbles forward a bit, checking to see if his bashed-in nose in bleeding as he does so. Seeing that it’s not, Ejiro turns back towards Magnifico, doing so just in time to see the luchadore sidestep towards him and throw his foot into the air! Fasaki has no time to counter as ELM drives the foot directly into his jaw, jolting Ejiro with a jaw-jarring Superkick! The surprised fans cheer for Magnifico’s counter, doing so as Ejiro is quickly and roughly knocked back-first onto the unforgiving floor. “Superkick out of nowhere from Magnifico, and the match takes a whole new direction!” Pete excitedly asserts. “Fasaki gave ELM a second to recover, and that’s all he needed!” “Magnifico shouldn’t have been able to land the ridiculous kick anyway.” King counters, rolling his eyes. “In any case, Fasaki will be back in his feet in a minute and continute ripping apart ELM’s arm to everyone’s delight.” ELM takes a half second to catch his breath before hopping up onto the apron, doing so while Fasaki lays prone and vulnerable on the floor, his eyes wide open and his chest heaving. While the ref continues his count, shouting “FIVE!” at the top of his lungs, Magnifico turns his back to Fasaki and begins to carefully climb the nearby corner’s turnbuckles. However, in doing so, he’s unable to see Fasaki shake off the effect of the Superkick and begin the climb to his feet! As Magnifico reaches the top turnbuckle, Fasaki stands and sees the luchadore perched above him. Ejiro immediately makes it his mission to knock the luchadore from his lofty perch, as he hops onto the apron just as Magnifico is reaching the top turnbuckle. ELM turns back towards Ejiro...just in time for Fasaki to drive his arm between the luchadore’s legs and directly into his crotch! Every male in the audience cringes simultaneously as Magnifico loses his balance and falls onto the top turnbuckle groin-first, his eyes wide open and his mouth agape from the pain that flows through his body. With ELM temporarily incapacitated, Fasaki turns away from the luchadore, reaches up and grabs him by his damaged left arm. Facing the outside, Ejiro pulls Magnifico off of the turnbuckle and over his head, doing so while jumps off of the apron! Fasaki lands knees-first on the floor, and as ELM comes over his head, Fasaki slams the luchadore’s shoulder into the ground with a Super Arm Drag! Impressed by the unconventional move, the fans OHHH! for a moment before breaking out in appreciative cheers, doing so as the luchadore shamelessly cries out in pain! “Super Arm Drag to the outside! Oh my God!” LDP cries, impressed despite himself. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before! Magnifico’s shoulder could have been separated right there!” “See, what’d I tell ya?” gloats King gleefully. “Fasaki gets back on the the shoulder in beautifully dramatic fashion! If Magnifico has an ounce of smarts in that pathetic brain of his, he’ll stay down and just wait for the count out.” Fasaki stays on his knees for a moment, breathing heavily and looking down at the broken form of Magnifico lying in front of him, clenching his shoulder and gritting his teeth in pain and frustration. The referee, who has not broken his count, shouts “TEN!”, snapping Ejiro to attention. Fasaki climbs to his feet and lazily rolls into the ring, while ELM remains motionless on the floor. “Something of a break for Magnifico, as he would have already been counted out if not for the twenty count being used in this match.” LDP observes. “As it is, he’s only got a ten count to get to his feet and get inside the ring!” “ELEVEN!” ELM scowls, disheartened and sore, as he rolls onto his stomach. “TWELVE!” In the ring, Fasaki is back on his feet and is leaning leisurely against the ropes furthest from Magnifico, taking great pleasure in watching the luchadore suffer. “THIRTEEN!” His left arm hanging uselessly at his side, ELM begins pushing himself up with his right arm, his face twisted into a mask of determination and sheer drive. “FOURTEEN!” The fans can only watch ELM’s bold struggle for so long before deciding to help him out a bit. A barely audible chant of “MAG! MAG! MAG!” starts in the back of the rafters, but soon, nearly every fan in Bucharest National Stadium is shouting the shortest of Magnifico’s nicknames. “FIFTEEN!” Magnifico’s arm holds out just long enough for him to get onto his knees, drawing a encouraging cheer from the capacity crowd! His chest heaving and his teeth still clenched in pain, ELM takes a second to gain his composure before continuing. “SIXTEEN!” Working on pure determination, Magnifico struggles to stand, his arm still dangling pathetically at his side. “SEVENTEEN!” Ejiro raises an eyebrow but doesn’t move a muscle as ELM suddenly surges to his feet, drawing a mighty pop from the excited audience. “EIGHTEEN!” Cradling his shoulder, Magnifico slowly walks towards the ring, climbs onto the apron... “NINETEEN!” ...and rolls into the ring, just barely avoiding the twenty count in climactic fashion! The fans grow louder than ever, collectively impressed with the luchadore’s grit and persistence. Meanwhile, Ejiro rolls his eyes and pushes himself off of the ropes, annoyed that he has take another minute to put Magnifico away. “Magnifico made it! Unbelievable!” Pete declares, unabashedly cheerful. “ELM’s managed to get to his feet and into the ring, all with a dead left arm!” Magnifico may be in the ring, but that doesn’t mean he’s really doing anything. ELM lays on the mat, completely exhausted, as Fasaki casually walks up to him and gleefully kicks the luchadore in the ribs. The fans respond with a surprised and sympathetic OHHH! as the luchadore opens his mouth and releases a soundless cry of pain. Grinning broadly, Fasaki draws his foot back again, this time slamming it into ELM’s kidney. Magnifico curls up in agony, but isn’t in that position long, as Ejiro’s had enough fun and now wants the luchadore standing. Fasaki grabs the luchadore by his damaged left arm and violently pulls him to his feet, not receiving an ounce of resistance from Magnifico in the process. “Devastating kicks from Ejiro, and Magnifico looks to be in terrible shape!” King happily notes. “Fasaki is taking advantage of every second he has to torture the luchadore.” Once ELM is on his feet, Fasaki immediately pulls him into a Standing Head Scissors. Once he’s got Magnifico in that position, he takes a second to relax and wave a little to the capacity crowd, who respond mainly with annoyed boos. Fasaki laughs and waves them off, then grabs Magnifico by the waist of his tights to continue the Memphis Piledriver setup. Fasaki begins to pull ELM towards the ground...when Magnifico suddenly drops to one knee and drives his arm upwards, returning the favor Ejiro delivered to him earlier! The relieved fans cheer happily as Fasaki immediately doubles over in pain as Magnifico slowly stands up, determined to take advantage of the situation he’s created for himself. Once ELM stands, he quickly pulls Ejiro into a Front Face Lock and falls backwards, slamming Fasaki’s skull into the canvas with a quick and dirty DDT! Another round of cheers rises from the encouraging audience as Fasaki’s dome bounces off of the mat right before his body falls lifelessly onto it! “Desperation DDT from Magnifico, and he just might still have a chance to win this match!” LDP cries, obviously excited. “Psh.” King dismissively counters. “All he’s done is further piss Ejiro off. There’s no chance he’s even going to get up before Fasaki, much less be in a position to land another move on him.” However, Magnifico seems intent on defying King, as he begins working his way to his feet almost immediately after landing the DDT! Although he’s hindered by his dead left arm, Magnifico is determined to get on his feet, and he’s spurred on by the encouraging cheers and chants pouring in from every part of the stadium. ELM manages to get to his feet after a couple seconds, and immediately begins making his way to the nearby corner. Not resting for an instant, Magnifico immediately begins climbing the corner’s turnbuckles, guessing that Ejiro will stay down long enough for him to do so. Unfortunately for him, he’s wrong. Fasaki stirs and begins pushing himself to his feet just as ELM begins climbing the turnbuckles. Ejiro catches sight of Magnifico’s climb and responds with a combination of a scowl and a grimace and with a redoubling of his standing efforts. Fasaki finally stands as ELM is reaching the top turnbuckle, and immediately heads over to the corner that Magnifico is perched on top of. Ejiro steps onto the second turnbuckle just as ELM is turning around, determined to Magnifico’s attack right here and now. But as ELM turns around, he thrusts his hands forward and into Ejiro’s chest, shoving him right off of the second turnbuckle! Fasaki is surprised to say the least as he flies off of the turnbuckle and lands hard on the mat, shaking the entire ring with the impact! As the fans release an excited pop for the unexpected counter, Magnifico pauses on the top turnbuckle, catching his breath as he looks down on Ejiro. “No! No!” LDP shouts. “Fasaki once again tried to stop Magnifico on the top turnbuckle, but ELM saw him coming! This is the break he was looking for!” “This is really getting on my nerves.” King declares, exasperated. “This match should have been over ten minutes ago, in time for me to meet my Romanian hooker.” A beat passes. “Yeah, you heard me! What of it?” In the ring, Magnifico’s finished his break and is slowly standing up on the top turnbuckle. The cheering grows to its loudest point yet in anticipation, and only grows louder when ELM turns to his Mexican Flag and salutes it proudly! Not wasting another second, Magnifico turns back to Ejiro and leaps off of the top turnbuckle, setting off thousands of flashbulbs from every part of the stadium! ELM is bathed in light as he flips backwards, falls towards Ejiro... . ...and misses! Fasaki rolls out of the way a half second before impact, causing Magnifico to unceremoniously crash chest first onto the mat! As the disappointed fans OHHH! as one, ELM cries out and doubles over in pain, his best chance for winning the match gone! “NO! Magnifico missed! Ejiro got out of the way of the Mexican Pride Press at the absolute last moment!” LDP yells. Magnifico lies face down on the mat, his heaving chest pushing off of the canvas while Ejiro, on his back, lays motionless next to him. Suddenly, Fasaki rolls over and onto the luchadore, hooking Magnifico’s left arm with his legs as he does so! Ejiro then reaches up, wraps his arms around ELM’s face, and begins wrenching back on his neck with the Cobra Crossface! The fans come to life, either cheering, booing, or just plain shouting as Fasaki tears apart Magnifico’s shoulder with the deadly submission! “The Crossface! Fasaki has locked in the Cobra Crossface, and it might just be a matter of time before Magnifico submits!” LDP declares, concerned and excited at the same time. Fasaki’s face is painted with a bloodthirsty grin as he rips at Magnifico’s already-crippled shoulder. ELM slowly reaches out with his hand, looking as though he’s going to try and pull himself to the ropes...but instead he just taps the mat lightly, his will to resist completely drained. The ref immediately leaps to his feet and signals for the bell, which is nearly drowned out by the disappointed booing of sixty thousand Romanians. Ejiro coolly releases the submission and rises to his feet, leaving the broken form of Magnifico lying motionless below him. DING DING DING “Your winner, by submission...” Funyon shouts, “E-JIR-OOOOOOOO FAH-SAH-KIIIIIII!!” Responding to his name being announced, Fasaki mockingly plays to the crowd as Tomoyasu Hotei’s “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” once again kicks up, which coincidentally compliments the audience booing quite nicely. “Ya see that!” King bellows, overjoyed. “Magnifico’s not in the submission ten seconds and he gives up! Pathetic!” “Give me a break, King.” LDP angrily counters. “If ELM hadn’t submitted then, he would have been risking serious injury.” “Yeah, whatever.” King replies. “All I know is, Ejiro got the win, and Magnifico looks like he’s been hit by a Mack truck.” “Maybe you’re right.” LDP sighs. “In any case, we’ve got our Tag Team Championship Match up next, so don’t you dare leave! “Seriously, don’t. Or we’ll kill you.” King threatens. LDP glares at him. “What?” The last shot shown before the show fades to commercial is one of El Luchadore Magnifico, his eyes closed as he lies motionless on the mat...

Happy birthday, Johnny.

Huh...okay... This is gonna be fun. =)

Great. Figures I wrote my match to be methodical and full of arm work. >_>

Early 2001 (I think. It might have been late 2000). My favorite moment was winning the World Title at Genesis II, beating some IGN/SWF Legends in the process. I think like one person picked me to win out of the twenty that guessed. =)

Shit, you're right. I guess I like that show too.

Goddamn. Randy Johnson's been throwing an amazing game, but Torre's taken him out after a bad play in center field and an error at second allows the Mets to go ahead 2-1. Really exciting game so far.

The one show on MTV I actually like. The Pro Wrestler episode is one of my favorites (especially the bit with Tony Atlas trying his damndest to get that wresting show going). The one about plastic surgery was really good for laughing at, and the one with the girl becoming a BMX biker was pretty cool as well. I was actually really happy for her when she landed that backflip. The marriage one was great for several reasons. Firstly, the bit the guy mentioned above about the Italian groom freaking out and threatening to murder the limo driver. Secondly, I live in the same city as the gays getting married and know pretty much every spot they visited in their part of the episode.

What do you mean, "back"? I thoroughly enjoyed this promo. Flesher's right, there aren't enough people who give their characters solid backstories and motivation. I thought the bit with the kids was great too, even though I'm kinda wondering why they speak English. =)

My dad keeps saying that the Yankees made a huge mistake in not signing Carlos Beltran, and I'm beginning to think he's right. An outfield of Matsui/Belran/Williams in the Bronx wouldn't be bad at all (though Bernie's been looking pretty pathetic recently). As it is, I've been hearing rumblings that the Mets are going to trade Cameron. If they do, the Yankees would be retarded to not pounce on him. He's having a career year and would probably love the chance to play center fielder again. 'Course I'd be vehemently opposed to that move, but there's not much I can do about it. =)

Mets finally put two wins together with a good game tonight. Pedro was terrific and the offense was much better than it has been recently. Wish Looper could be a little more consistent though. >_> I don't really mind Beltran's mediocre offensive numbers because A)He had been playing with an injury for a couple weeks, and B)Because he's still doing great defensively. I'm willing to bet that his numbers will pick up soon, but in the meantime, no big deal.

Whoever thought of Funyon's intro deserves a trophy. Opening promo's mine...any criticism you can offer would be appreciated, as I feel that promoing is my weak spot. Cool WC/Ejiro promo. I can't wait to see where this is going. Very well formatted Olympic Match. I figured a Clusterfuck-like format had to be used, and the kind used here worked very well. Great use of the scoring system to set the psychology of the match and in the ending as well. Huh, buildup promo for a match later in the evening? That's refreshing to say the least. Nice. What is with you guys and not writing for multi-man Hardcore Title matches with fun stipulations? One person out of the six in the last two matches of that type has written, which is ridiculous. That being said, Zyon wrote a great match, which used the environment very well. The bickering between King and LDP was quality as well. FLESHER/ELM TALK IN A HALLWAY WATCH OUT NOW Haha, excellent mystery opponent. Makes the earlier promo brilliant. That being said, great, exciting back-and-forth match between Toxxic and Pretzler. Each of the storylines in the match (the fans getting into it despite themselves, the mutual respect between the competitors) were well executed and made it a really engaging read. Excellent main event. The bit with WC and Ejiro is really interesting, especially considering the promo earlier in the show. Well-executed six-man stuff all around, including the HOT TAG~! that I always mark for, and of course, the general breaking down of all order at the end. And a great ending to say the least. Classy bit with IL. I'm looking forward to seeing what CC has planned for the CW Title.

Yes, let's destroy people's family homes to make room for souless office complexes that'll add nothing to the community. Unless the landowners get paid the value of their land, this judgement is completely undefendable. Scary thing is, I can imagine this happening around here. Retail's been developing up and down a particular parkway for years and there are still a few people that have refused to sell their houses on there.