Luke James challenges Ganba

                Last weekend, “Peacemaker” Luke James challenged Ganba to a match at AWL 240.  Unfortunately, Ganba hasn’t been seen outside of the opening montage since the Golden War.  While I have it on good authority that the AWL Commissioner wants this match to happen, someone will have to find Ganba first.

Season Finale Update

Time for this week’s Season Finale Update:

AWL 240: Season 12 Finale

MAIN EVENT:

HAKAISHA! (C) vs. Big Foot (#1)

AWL Grand Championship Match

5^th Title Defense

Akira Merune (C) vs. Usa-Chan (#1)

AWL Joshi Championship Match

2^nd Title Defense

And this match added this past weekend:

The Doombunny (C) vs. Frederick Victor

AWL Intercontinental Championship Match

World of Sport Rules

3^rd Title Defense

???? vs. ???? vs. ???? vs. ????

BATSUMANIA!

                Next weekend we will determine #1 contenders to the AWL World Tag Team Titles.  Also, Luke James has cast down the gauntlet and demanded a match against Ganba at the finale.  Will the, er, former…I think…Japanese Megastar respond?  Find out at AWL 238.Season 

AWL 237: 4 Honor and Glory

Full Card for AWL 237

As promised, here’s all the action you can expect tomorrow at AWL 237:

El Hijo del Ma-Ji-Ku vs. Green Ant II vs. Michael Dunne vs. John Hero

Fight for 4

Jackie M. vs. Joya (#3)

Rank on the Line

Frederick Victor vs. The Doombunny

World of Sport Rules

Non-Title Match

                This’ll shut him up!  The AWL Commissioner has absolutely had it with Victor’s complaining about losing his IC Title Match at the Golden War.  This is an ultimatum.  If Frederick Victor wins, he gets his damn World of Sport IC Title Match at AWL 240.  If not, he will be BANNED from challenging for the AWL Intercontinental Championship for an entire YEAR!!

The Augments (2) vs. T49P (1)

Points in Play

Big Time Thug S (0) vs. Liga Cosmica (0)

2 Point/20 Minute Match

                We’re still looking for challengers for Tiger Mask W’s AWL World Tag Team Titles at AWL 240.  If The Augments can earn their third point, they’ll make that challenge.  However, if not, we’ll have two teams with two points ready to face each other in a #1 Contender’s Match next week.

Matt Classic Jr. (OOX) vs. Cage

Test of Ten Match 6

                Matt Classic Jr. is half way through the Test of Ten and the competition is heating up.  The AWL Commissioner has decided to make Matt climb a human mountain.  The Titan of the Temple.  The Machine.  They call him…Cage!

All that and more in less than 24 hours at AWL 237!

Best 4 Situation

The current Best 4 rankings are as follows:

Grand Championship:                                    Joshi Championship:

1. Big Foot                                                         1. Usa-Chan

2. Luke James                                                    2. Athena Jane

3. Hassan                                                           3. Joya

4. TBD                                                              4. TBD

It’s time to fill those empty slots.  The AWL Commissioner has booked two matches for this weekend at AWL 237.  The first is for the men and shows that the AWL really IS a land of opportunity and that isn’t a catchphrase.

El Hijo del Ma-Ji-Ku vs. Green Ant II vs. Michael Dunne vs. John Hero

Fight for 4

These four rookies are being given a HUGE chance to completely change their careers.  Furthermore, it’s an elimination match so a maximum of 3 victories in the AWL Win-Loss records are available.  Over in the Joshi division, it’s a little more complex.

Jackie M. vs. Joya (#3)

Rank on the Line

If Jackie M. wins this match, she will enter the Best 4 at #3 (Joya would, in that case, be reduced in rank for losing to an unranked wrestler).  However, if Joya wins, she not only stays in the Best 4, she will advance in rank and we determine a #4 contender next week.

                Those will be your main event and semi final for this weekend.  I’ll be back tomorrow with the full card for AWL 237.

Season Finale card so far

                We are one month away from AWL 240: The Season 12 Finale and the card is beginning to take shape with the main event confirmed this past weekend:

HAKAISHA! (C) vs. Big Foot (#1)

AWL Grand Championship Match

5^th Title Defense

                Additionally, the newly minted AWL Joshi Championship will also be on the line:

Akira Merune (C) vs. Usa-Chan (#1)

AWL Joshi Championship

2^nd Title Defense

                As per AWL custom, the AWL Tag Team and Intercontinental titles will also be contested for at the season finale…presuming suitable challengers can be found.  More matches are sure to be announced in the coming weeks so stay tuned to this very blog for all the news from the Animated Wrestling League.

AWL 236: Insert Title Here

Champion and Challenger

All comments are translated from the original Japanese by the AWL Translation Team.

Akira Merune:

                This is an amazing feeling.  I’m thankful to everyone who helped me get to this place.  But now I must focus on being a fighting champion.  I will accept all challengers eagerly.  Dragoness is a friend of mine and we’ve trained together at the AWL Dojo many times.  I look forward to the match.  May the best woman win.

Dragoness:

                Akira Merune is a fantastic wrestler.  I’m going into this match with a clear game plan.  I have to wrestle my kind of match and prevent her from wrestling hers.  If she catches me in one of those weird submissions of hers, I’m in big trouble.  But if I can nail her with the Dragon Drop, you’ll be looking at the NEW AWL Joshi Champion!  See you tomorrow Akira-san.  Let’s tear the house down!

Danger Zone Update

                The AWL’s Danger Zone System occasionally throws us a major curveball.

Wrestler	Win	Loss	Total	as of AWL 235
Tanaka Kenichi	40	-55	-15	GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
Mr. Smiles	7	-19	-12
Cage	3	-12	-9
El Rudo Rojo	42	-50	-8
Luke James	41	-49	-8

                The curveball is that Luke James, currently teetering on the edge of the Danger Zone…is also the #1 Contender in the AWL Best 4.  He should be safe from the Danger Zone by virtue of being in the main event of the Season Finale.  However, the AWL Commissioner doesn’t want to give The Peacemaker a free pass out of the zone and doesn’t want to condemn El Rudo Rojo without a fair chance to save himself.  Therefore, at AWL 236, we will hopefully get some clarity on this.

Mr. Smiles vs. Cage

Danger Zone Match

Luke James (#1) vs. El Rudo Rojo

Danger Zone Match

Rank on the Line!

                If Luke James loses this match, not only will he fall into the Danger Zone, he will also lose rank.  The landscape of the AWL Grand Championship picture will be up in the air at AWL 236!

Test of Ten Update

                Shin Jidai failed to capture the AWL World Tag Team Titles at Golden War 2018.  Fortunately, they have another path to a title shot.  The Test of Ten continues this weekend at AWL 236:

Matt Classic Jr. (OOX) vs. Frederic Victor

Test of Ten Match #5

As you can probably guess, Frederic Victor STILL won’t shut up about how he “knows he can beat The Doombunny in a World of Sport Rules Match.”  So, the AWL Commissioner (in another attempt to shut him up) is putting him in the Test of Ten.  If Frederic Victor can beat Matt Classic Jr. in an AWL Rules match, he can have his bloody WoS IC Title Match at AWL 240.  Frankly, I don’t see it happening.

Tag Team Division

                Another week, another set of tag teams searching for 3 points.

The Augments (1) vs. The Golden Duo (1)

Points in Play

               HAKAISHA! has defeated Project Tetsu 2.0 TWICE to retain his AWL Grand Championship.  Will the Iron Project fair better with a modern day Frankenstein’s Moster by his side?  Both teams enter the match with 1 point so one team will advance and the other goes home from the AWL Arena with nothing!

Big Time Thug S (0) vs. Liga Cosmica (0)

Points in Play

               Estralla Dorada and Big Foot are one and one against each other in recent weeks.  Since they’re both tag team specialists (if only technically so in Big Foot’s case), let’s have the teams hash it out.

No time like the present.

                We now have an AWL Joshi Best 4.  That’s a good enough reason to make this match:

Akira Merune (C) vs. Dragoness (#1)

AWL Joshi Championship Match

1^st Title Defense

                It should go without saying that this will be the main event of AWL 236.  In other singles action, after losing to “Liger” last weekend, Ma-Ji-Ku has requested and been granted a rematch…and it’ll be a GRUDGE MATCH:

Ma-Ji-Ku vs. “Liger”

GRUDGE MATCH!

                For those who may not know, a grudge match means that anything goes, there must be a winner, and there will be no record of this match in the AWL Win-Loss Records.  No DQ, no count out, falls count anywhere, and no time limit!  Ma-Ji-Ku’s pride as a wrestler has been damaged and there must be satisfaction.

AWL 235: Joshi Best 4

Full Card for AWL 235

AWL 235: Joshi Best 4

MAIN EVENT:

Athena Jane vs. Dragoness vs. Usa-chan

Ranking Match

Ma-Ji-Ku vs. “Liger”

The Golden Duo (0) vs. The Empire (0)

Points in Play

Estrella Dorada vs. Big Foot (#2)

Rank on the Line

Matt Classic Jr. (OOX) vs. Hasaiki

Test of Ten Match #4

Joshi Battle Royal!

Fight for 4

Leading Men w/X (0) vs. A & W w/L (0)

Points in Play

Tag Team Matches for AWL 235.

                This weekend, at AWL 235, we’ll have two matches in the AWL Tag Team Division and a singles match that spins directly out from the Tag Team Gauntlet Match a few weeks ago:

The Golden Duo (0) vs. The Empire (0)

                Both HAKAISHA! and the Doombunny defended their championships at the Golden War.  However, The Empire’s Frederic Victor has been sending messages to the AWL Commissioner for every day since demanding a rematch under World of Sport rules.  I don’t see it happening, but hopefully this tag team match will shut him up.

The Leading Men (0) vs. The Young Dragons (0)

                The newest (and possibly strangest) tag team in AWL history, Da Glow Guy and Da Monki Guy, made their debut in the Tag Team Gauntlet Match…and got their asses kicked.  Apparently, they also have a manager that will be in their corner this weekend.  I have no idea who it is.

Estrella Dorada vs. Big Foot (#2)

Rank on the Line

                Probably the biggest in-ring “Holy ****!” moment of the Tag Team Gauntlet Match was Estrella Dorada of Liga Cosmica absolutely MANHANDELING the giant Big Foot!  With Golden War in the books, we have time to revisit this shocker in a one on one match.  Since Big Foot is the #2 Contender in the AWL Best 4, his rank is on the line and Estrella Dorada has the chance to forge his path to the AWL Grand Championship.

Commissioner Addresses the Fake Liger

Good evening ladies and gentlemen,

                I am the AWL Commissioner.  It is my sad duty to apologize to each and every fan of the Animated Wrestling League.  At the 2018 edition of the Golden War, we advertised a match between Ma-Ji-Ku and Jushin Thunder Liger.  The man who competed in the ring was NOT Jushin Thunder Liger, but a fraud with a similar body type and a good costume.

                It is my preference to strike that match from the record books.  However, Ma-Ji-Ku has insisted that I not only allow the match result to stand, but that I offer the false Liger an Animated Wrestling League Contract!  While I cannot claim to read the mind of the Warrior of Light, I appreciate the desire to right a wrong in the crucible of combat.  Therefore, I am offering the man representing himself as “Jushin Thunder Liger” a position on the Animated Wrestling League Roster…at the LOWEST pay rate I have ever offered.  Seriously, the Young Dragons, Michael Dunne, and John Hero are all making more than this charlatan.

                This weekend at AWL 235, in a rematch from the Golden War, this “Jushin Thunder Liger” will face a very angry Warrior of Light.

                THIS!  I have COMMISSIONED!!!!!  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

--XOXO AWL Commissioner

Setting things up.

                Golden Week and the Golden War are both in the history books.  Super Cards are always newsworthy, but the biggest this year is that we now have 4 active championships in the AWL!  Congratulations to the Mistress of 1000 Holds, Akira Merune on becoming the first ever AWL Joshi Champion.

                Now that we have a champion, we need challengers.  The AWL Commissioner has decided that the women will be treated identically to the men.  The means an AWL Joshi Best 4!  The top three members will be Dragoness, Athena Jane, and Usa-Chan.  Their specific ranks will be set in this weekend’s AWL 235 Main Event:

Dragoness vs. Usa-Chan vs. Athena Jane

Ranking Match!

                The 4^th and final member of the AWL Joshi Best 4 will be determined by…

8 Woman Over the Top Rope Battle Royal!

                The AWL Joshi Division takes its rightful place in the Animated Wrestling League!

AWL Supercard: Golden War 2018!

Full Card for AWL Super Card Golden War 2018

                Golden War 2018 is less than 48 hours away!  We have the full card including every match in the AWL vs. NJPW Series!

MAIN EVENT:

Athena Jane vs. Dragoness vs. Akira Merune vs. Usa-chan

AWL Joshi Championship Ladder Match

                It’s a match that’s been months in the making, 4 of the best female wrestlers in the world today will fight to climb the ladder of success and become the first ever AWL Joshi Champion.  There will be many future champions, but only one can be first.

HAKAISHA (C) vs. Project 鉄 2.0 (#1)

AWL Grand Championship Match—4^th Title Defense

                An unusual match for many reasons.  Not only is it unusual to see the Grand Championship defended in anything other than the main event, it’s virtually unheard of for anyone to challenge for the Grand Championship twice in a row.  But that’s exactly what Project Tetsu earned the right to do after running the table in the 4-way reshuffle match last weekend.

                HAKAISHA, on the other hand, is looking to continue his V6 Project and set a new record for the most title defenses in a single title reign.  The current record holder with 5 defenses?  Project Tetsu!

                HAKAISHA has beaten Project Tetsu before.  Project Tetsu has beaten HAKAISHA before.  Who will come out on top as the AWL Grand Champion?

Tiger Mask W (C) vs. 新時代 (3)

AWL World’s Tag Team Championship Match—1^st Title Defense

                After surviving the longest match in AWL History, Wyvern and Azteckaizer NEO have more than earned the right to face the new AWL World’s Tag Team Champions in their first title defense.  The 3-Point System ensures that every set of challengers are qualified to be champions.  Will the Unified School of the Tiger Style be enough to meet the challenge of the New Generation?

AWL vs. NJPW Series:

Ganba vs. Okada Kazuchika

Non-Title Match

                Two of the best wrestlers in Japan today.  The most decorated AWL Champion in history versus the objectively greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history.  There’s only one statistic that matters here: Ganba has NEVER beaten Okada one on one.

AWL vs. NJPW Series:

T49P (0) vs. Golden*Lovers (2)

Points in Play

                Thanks to a time limit draw, the Golden Lovers came away from the Tag Team Gauntlet with 2 points.  If they win this match, not only do they earn a victory for New Japan, they write their ticket to a title match against either Tiger Mask W or T49P.

AWL vs. NJPW Series:

Ma-Ji-Ku vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

                THIS!  This is the match I want to see!!  Two legends, both they undisputed #1 masked wrestler of their respective promotion.  They have never faced each other one on one.  In two days, that changes and we all get the opportunity to witness it!  Nuff said!

AWL vs. NJPW Series:

Chiba Akagi vs. Will Osprey

Non-Title Match

                Last weekend, Chiba Akagi (who I think we need to start calling the One Man Tag Team) forced the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion to tap out to the manji-gatame.  But, that was an Atomicos Match.  This will be one on one.  If Chiba Akagi can replicate the feat, I smell a title shot in his future.

Doombunny (C) vs. Frederic Victor

AWL Intercontinental Championship Match—2^nd Title Defense.

                Even though it’s been under his self-imposed system of rules, it’s technically accurate to say that Frederic Victor has been winning a lot of matches lately.  That hopefully explains the AWL Commissioner’s reasoning in booking this last-minute IC title match.  All titles must be defended at the Golden War, so now we have fulfilled that requirement.

Until the show, have a happy Golden Week!

Awl 234: Prelude to a Golden War