I've got an idea. Stay tuned....

Prologue- The Death of Ring of Honor

Final Battle 2005 came three months early. Ring of Honor had fallen on hard times, losing its financing. They were out of money. Several buy out attempts were made, including one by a group of fans, but things fell through. The last ever ROH show took place in October of 2005, in the Philadelphia National Guard Armoury, in front of a sold out crowd.

The main event was Samoa Joe against Recently Crowned ROH Champion CM Punk. They wrestled for an hour and five minutes, in a continuation of what could possibly be ROH’s greatest feud. Samoa Joe won, as he had so many times before, with the Choke. As a raucous chant of “thank you!” filled the ROH Arena, both men broke down in tears as the locker room emptied into the ring.

Words followed. Not promo’s, not kayfabe, but honest, from the heart words. Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Christopher Daniels, Homicide, Low-Ki, Bryan Danielson and even the returning Paul London all spoke. Not a single fan left. Gabe spoke next. He thanked the fans for all their support and asked that ROH’s memory and legacy be kept alive.

This was a year ago.

In that year many companies tried to fill the void left by ROH. IWA:MS tried, but fell on financial woes that had plagued their entire existence. CZW was marred by poor management. FIP in Florida could not keep the local fan base high enough. Independent Wrestling fell on hard times.

Our story begins in Ohio…

I'm not surprised it was sold out... it's really not too hard to sell 400 tickets, unless your promotions name is TNA. :P

Way to ruin the moment, dick. :lol:

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this, LFV. Good luck.

I'm just goofing around... or am I? :rolleyes:

Ohio- Spring 2006.

It’s warm and pleasant and the snow has finally melted. Two men sit in an office in Columbus Ohio, the states capital.

One is quite obviously rich. He is dressed in the finest fashions of the day. The other is quite obviously not. He is slightly overweight and balding. He chews on an unlit cigar. He quit smoking three months ago, but couldn’t shake the need to have one around.

They were sitting in an office. It was the office of the All Ohio Innovative Wrestling Alliance. The rich man spoke.

“You’re sitting on a gold mine here, do you know that? I’ve been watching wrestling all my life, and have never seen things like what your kids do. And you say you trained them all yourself?”

The other man nodded. “They wanted to wrestle. I had nothing better to do. They hung around anyway. So after shows I’d teach them a few things if they’d help take down the ring. They learned fast.”

“I can bet. And now you’ve got a cache of young talent. And now, with my finances, you can turn your humble little federation into a Super Indy.”

The other man chuckled slightly. “It was never supposed to be one, you know. Never planed it to be. I just wanted to put on shows.”

“I won’t lie.” The Rich Man said, “I was a huge fan of Ring of Honour, and if I could have saved it, I would have. But I was seventeen and didn’t have my inheritance. Now I do. And with your kids, and some of the Indy stars…. We can change the wrestling world….”

“The only reason I’m doing this…” The man said. “Is for my kids. I don’t want to be the next ROH. But these kids… they deserve it.”

“I understand. I’ll handle the business. You can keep your writers, and anyone else you want, for that matter. We need a new name though. Something more “Big” and less regional. How about…. The International Wrestling Battleground. Yea… the IWB. It has a ring. I think.”

The man nodded. The Rich Man left. Calls needed to be made.

Very cool developing plot. I'll be reading.

(taken from) THE WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER- 5/5/05


So, today I got some video’s in the mail. They were of a little fed out of Ohio called the All Ohio Innovative Wrestling Alliance. Apparently they’re relaunching as the International Wrestling Battleground, the latest in the “Super Indy”. But these video’s showcased the one thing that is supposed to set them apart, their young talent that they “home grew”. I have to say, I’m impressed. This place could be the next OMEGA, sending stars out to the wrestling world.

The one person who really stood out to me was (So match introductions say) Krys Nyteshade. Think CM Punk’s attitude mixed with Jack Evans insane-ness. He seems to be really good at controlling and working the crowd, and still managing to throw in these insane moves. He also seems to structure his matches very well. He just seems a little unpolished, but that will come in time.

Next up were the “Suicide Kings” a tag team of Matthew Faustin and Sean Strife. These two work really well as a team, and their styles compliement each other well. Faustin seems to be the more technical oriented one, looking a bit like Alex Shelley, and Strife seems to be more of a flier (although he’s actually six foot.). They both just look a little hesitant in the ring sometimes, when they’re by themselves. But their double teams look crisp and solid as any out there now .

Next up was “Mr. Airtime” Aaron Williams. He seemed to do the whole “Goofy guy with a mean streak” gimmick. And he did it fairly well. He mixed in comedy spots like a big Running Claw hold and a super light double stomp in with his whole “snapping” thing well. His only problem was he seemed to be more concerned with getting himself over, and not the match. But he’ll get over that.

And then there was a kid called Lucifer Havok. Crazy white boy. His gimmick is that he’s suicidal. I believe it. Moonsault off the roof onto a pile of guys. Nuts. He seems a little sloppy though, and the announcers say he’s only seventeen (isn’t that illegal?) so that explains some things, but kid, slow down. Please.

Apparently Krys Nyteshade as a love/hate relationship with one Jaycen Martin, because on one episode he was tag champs with him (and working quite well together) and the next they were wrestling for the cruiserweight strap (putting on quite a good match.), and they obviously hated each other. This Martin kid seems to be a technical wizard, in much the same way one would describe a Chris Hero or Alex Shelley. No real charisma to speak of, though.

And finally we have Shane Steele, who is the only real power wrestler of the group. He kind of reminds me of a Roderick Strong. Lots of tossing people around. Could be a decent WWE prospect one day. He has a nice look, but no mic skills whatsoever.

So, after watching these tapes, I went and checked out their website, and found only a cryptic “DEATH COMES RIPPING: THIS HALLOWEEN” message, and their new logo. Odd. Updates as we get them, because I’m intrigued.

I am intrigued as well...

You use this Krys Nyteshade guy a lot.

Taken from the Wrestling Observer- 6/1

…. And the IWB website launched today. Lots of talent already signed for their first show apparently taking place on Halloween, including Samoa Joe (Fresh off his big run in New Japan), Christopher Daniels, CM Punk (Fresh of his much talked about WWE stint. More on that later.), Spanky, Alex Shelley, Jack Evans, and more to be announced. And one would assume their “home grown” stars will be there as well. I’m interested in seeing what matchups they come up with, and if they’ll be integrating their home grown guys into the mix at all….


(The Krys Nyteshade guy is supposed to be me, more or less. Duh.)

That's what I figured. Nice name...tool.

Pft. You're just jealous you can't come up with any cool misfits sounding name for yourself.


And you started a wrestling message board. You're a bigger tool than Jeremy Borash.

You got me there. Borash is a gigantic toolbag. Starting a message board does wonders for you're ego, though.

I wouldn't be as hard on you, if you'd spell normal names correctly, but whatever, Krys.

Your fed needs James Gibson.

Grr. I've had no time to write anymore of this, but I'll get back to it once school starts and I die of boredom again.