Sunday, December 16, 2018

Finale Countdown Part 5: Last Words


We are just hours away from AWL 260 and the very real chance that Dr. Jigoku will once again control the AWL Grand Championship!  I know that sounds pessimistic, but one of the bad doctor’s slaves is challenging for the title against easily the LEAST experienced champion we’ve ever had (though not the least deserving) in Chikara’s Thief Ant.  The last time Dr. Jigoku got his gloves on the Grand Championship it started a reign of terror that decimated the entire roster.  I hope you don’t blame me for being nervous.
                Anyway, it’s time to open to floor to the champion and challenger.  First, speaking on behalf of his…slave is Dr. Jigoku:

Dr. Jigoku:
                At last, a proper testament to my genius!  For YEARS that midget Ma-Ji-Ku toiled endlessly in the AWL getting absolutely nowhere.  Living on past glories and pining for a long dead division.  But, less than a single season under MY influence and he’s in the main event of the finale a mere technicality away from the one accolade that always eluded him, AWL Grand Champion!
                WHEN my M-05 wins the belt, it will confirm my hypothesis that even a miserable failure, with the proper application of SCIENCE can become…superior!

Thief Ant:
                What’s mine will not be yours.  That’s all I have to say.

Friday, December 14, 2018

Finale Countdown Part 4: Tag team division

                AWL 260 will be a landmark moment in tag team wrestling.  One that podcasters in the distent future will discuss and analyze endlessly.  The night that the first AWL Joshi Tag Team Championships will be awarded to the winners of the Joshi Tag Title Tournament.  Yes, we’re beating WWE to the punch by months and NJPW by probably 35 years.
                After over a month of competition, we are down to two tag teams set to fight for their place in history.  The first, the best of the best in the AWL Joshi Division.  Akira Merune, the undefeated Mistress of 1000 Holds and AWL Joshi Champion has the chance to be the first wrestler in years to be a double champion in the AWL and the first wrestler EVER to hold double gold with only AWL titles (past double champions have held AWL gold and belts from other wrestling organizations such as NJPW and Chikara).
                In her corner is the wrestler with the next best win loss record in the Joshi Division and genuine AWL royalty: Dragoness.  The Daughter of the Dragon has brought her father’s signature wrestling style forward to a new generation.  Can she do for the AWL Joshi Tag Team Titles what her father did for the original AWL Championship?
                Across the ring from the Queens of Wrestling will be two superheroes.  Resu Yellow and Resu Pink of the Puro Sentai Resurangers.  That means that there will be no traditional “bad guys” in this match.  Just two pairs of top-level athletes fighting to lay claim to the title of Champions.
                Over in the men’s division, it’s far less historical, but no less significant.  The New Classics make the second title defense of their record setting 6th reign as champions.  But the interesting part (not to mention the biggest WTF story of Season 13), is who they’re defending against.
                El Rudo Rojo has been with the AWL since Season 2 when he and his brother El Santo Azul joined Team Mexico for the World Warrior Exhibition, or WWE for short (yeah, that’s what passed for clever back then).  He became the first wrestler in AWL history to lose his mask in Lucha de Apuestas.  Since then he’s been either the leader or a member of several teams and factions…to very little success.  He’s a grumpy, bitter, angry man with a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Fuji.
                Mister Smiles, on the other hand, is pretty much the EXACT opposite.  Joyful, outgoing, and a pleasure to have in any locker room.  How those two have managed to spend ten minutes in the same room, let alone the three matches it’s taken to earn their three point.
                This is never going to work, is it?

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Finale Countdown Part 3: IC Title and BREAKING NEWS!


BREAKING NEWS!!

                We know that Erupcion Solar will challenge the fake Liger for the AWL Intercontinental Championship.  Since everyone with a pulse has figured out that the rest of Nippon Yokatta will be at ringside to cheat for…I mean…cheer on Liger, Solar has found some back up of his own.  No, not Estrella Dorada, he’s still on the injured list.  Erupcion will be seconded by:


THE REAL JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER!!!!!

Finale Countdown Part 2: Good vs. Evil

                Last week I spoke about the rise of the forces of darkness in the Animated Wrestling League.  Today, we’re going to examine two matches where this is a key element.
                First, Matt Classic Sr. will challenge Ganba Hisshi Dark for the latter’s #3 position in the AWL Best 4. But this match has nothing to do with the AWL Grand Championship.  Blasphemy though it may be to say, this match runs FAR deeper.  This match is the reason Matt Classic Sr., retired since AWL 100, has returned to life as an active wrestler at the considerable age of 84.
                Ganba Hisshi Dark, formerly the greatest hero the AWL has ever known, fell to the darkness and made a Faustian bargain with the demon Gisei.  But it’s his crimes against Classic’s family that have driven the elder Classic out of retirement.  Earlier this season, Matt Classic Jr. lost his final life in the Test of 10 to Ganba Hisshi Dark.  Senior blames Ganba for costing his son his career.  Now, I know that isn’t entirely rational, but we’re talking about a father defending his son.  What do you expect?
                This will be a traditional AWL Rules Match, but I expect the referee to swallow his whistle considering the circumstances. 

                Additionally, the forces of Dr. Jigoku will face the Unified School of the Tiger Style in an Atomicos Match.  It has been brought to my attention that the AWL Commissioner has announced that, if LJ-04 loses Batsumania, Dr. Jigoku will be allowed to nominate one of his Augments to take LJ-04's place in the 8-man tag.
                The good news is that the Unified School of the Tiger Style.  Of all the teams and factions that have risen to power this season, the tigers are the best hope for the future of the Animated Wrestling League.  At AWL 260, they'll get a chance to prove it.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Finale Countdown Part 1


                Finale week is upon us!  It’s been a long hard season for the AWL.  We’ve lost friends and heroes to the darkness.  Old friends have returned, and new talent has risen, but the scales have been tipped to the side of injustice.  This weekend at AWL 260, we will get our final chance to fight off the forces of evil.
                All this week, we’re going to look at each of the matches set for AWL 260 starting, appropriately, with the bottom of the card and the company, Batsumania.
                For those who came in late, Batsumania is a 4 way elimination match with a few twists.  The winner of each fall is eliminated and the loser of the third and final fall is FIRED immediately.  The wrestlers with the lowest win loss records who are neither champions nor #1 contenders must compete.  This season, those unlucky four are:

1. “Thuglife” Tanaka Kenichi:
Oh, how the mighty have fallen!  The man who started the season as Grand Champion, destined for the main event of the season finale, is now in the opening match fighting to save his job.  I’ve made no secret of my dislike for Tanaka Kenichi over the years.  He’s a lying, cheating, manipulative, incompetent, sonofabitch who couldn’t wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag.  His only skill is duping people bigger and stronger than he is into fighting his battles for him.  Well, that and having a really good lawyer.
Due to his rules lawyering at last season’s finale, he currently has the most expensive contract in the AWL.  I’m sure the budget department would be sad to see him go.

2. Cage:
                Known by many names around the world, Cage is an international wrestling star and that incudes the AWL…when he bothers to show up.  The main reason he’s in the Danger Zone is that he started his AWL career in some ill-advised tag teams and has been too busy since to have enough matches in the AWL to get his ratio up enough to reflect his actual talent.  Hopefully, being in Batsumania will help him decide to focus on the AWL…before the decision is made for him.

3. LJ-04:
                Now the part of this article that I find personally painful to write.  Luke James was a friend of mine.  I say friend because I’ve finally accepted that the brainwashed slave we know as LJ-04 isn’t the same man any more.  Neither are any of the AWL heroes in the Dorei Corps.
                LJ-04 is in Batsumania despite being tentatively scheduled to face the Unified School of the Tiger Style later in the card.  IF LJ-04 is fired, the AWL Commissioner has agreed to allow Dr. Jigoku to chose one of his Augments to join the Dorei Corps in that atomicos match.   

4. Hasaiki:
                The second member of a less that scrupulous faction to feature in this year’s Batsumania.  Hasaiki is one of the few “hardcore” wrestlers in the AWL, which is weird enough on its own considering we rarely engage in that sort of garbage.  He’s also completely insane.  Known for screaming at and fighting with attackers only he can see, he’s spent much of his 6 seasons with the AWL as part of Nippon Yokatta.  Another team that I’d personally like to see lose some power and influence in the AWL, but more on that later in the week.

                Three will survive and one will fall.  It all happens in less than 7 days at AWL 260: The Season 13 Finale!

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Full Card for AWL 259


                It’s the go home show, so we’re going to keep it simple this week.  Here is the full card for AWL 259:
AWL 259:
MAIN EVENT
Akira Merune (C) vs. Yang (#1)
AWL Joshi Championship Match
5th Title Defense

Matt Classic Sr. vs. Project-Z
Fight for 4!
Match postponed from last week due to time and professional difficulties.

The Colony vs. The Dorei Corps
Atomicos Match

The New Classics AND Danger 13 vs. The Danger Zone (Tanaka Kenichi, Cage, LJ-04, Hasaiki)
Atomicos Match

The Unified School of the Tiger Style vs. Nippon Yokatta
Atomicos Match

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Full Card for AWL 258


AWL 258:
MAIN EVENT
Yin & Yang vs. The Queens of Wrestling
Joshi Tag Team Title Tournament
Semifinal Match #2

The Colony (1) vs. Big Time Thug S (1)
2 Point/20 Minute Match

M-05 vs. Cage

Eruption Solar, X, X, & X vs. Nippon Yokatta
Atomicos Match

Matt Classic Sr. vs. Project-Z
Fight for 4
Winner replaces Chiba Akagi in the AWL Best 4