Debut Edition

Welcome, folks, and thanks for joining me here at "Indulging Synn." This is going to be the home for all your weekly updates and previews regarding the programming at Xtreme Hardcore Wrestling, home of the best and the brightest when it comes to wrestling. I'm Xavier Synn, former XHW Undisputed Champion. These days, however, I spent most of my time interviewing the superstars of the XHW, getting their thoughts on upcoming matches and occasionally getting an opinion of my own or two in. In recent weeks, there's been quite a clamor for updates on what's going on in the federation from those who can't seem to keep up with the blistering pace of events in the XHW, which is where this little column comes in. From now on, you can come indulge your curiosities here each Friday when "Indulging Synn" will be posted. If there's anything that you aren't hearing about that you would like to, feel free to post a comment and I'll see what I can dig up. Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's get on to the news.

The XHW just completed a hugely successful overseas promotion with Full Throttle, broadcast live on PPV from the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. Let's quickly run down what went on in the show.

In a brutal opening match with one team looking to solidify its dominance of the tag team division and another team looking for a chance to prove they belonged, Excessive Force retained their Tornado Tag Team Championships against the Lynch Mob. Most impressive in this match was Joe Riggs, stepping up and proving that he's not the "weak link" in Excessive Force that many want to make him out to be, gaining the winning pin over Leon Washington. Don't look now, but there may not be anyone who can rip the titles away from the Force, barring outside influence, of course...

Following the tag team match was one where there was no love lost between two feuding superstars: Asylum and Jimm Red. Since his arrival in the XHW, Asylum has been strung along by pseudo-manager Jacob Widmore telling him that he'll reveal the location of Asylum's arch-nemesis, North Starr, should Asylum do whatever Jacob wants. Well, the artist formerly known as Johnny London got to see his enemy face to face on this night as North Starr personally interfered in the match and cost Asylum a victory, adding insult to injury in the most literal way possible. It remains to be seen whether this is the end of the road for these two or if it's just the beginning.

Up next was the crowning of a new Universal Champion in a strange set of circumstances that pitted two number one contenders against each other to claim a stripped belt. In a hard fought battle that could have gone either way by most accounts, the littlest and fastest man in the federation, Turbine, found a way to win over Eddie Rourke. However, with the recent influx of talent into the division, this race is only beginning.

In a match that many are calling the most vicious of the night, Aston Michaels emerged victorious over Johnny Sniper in a alcohol-fueled feud resulting in a cage match. The bout effectively ended once Sniper was hand-cuffed to the cage by Roger Michaels, but that didn't stop Aston and his manager from inflicting as much damage as possible to Johnny, leaving him to paramedics by the time they were through.

Yet another kink was thrown into the feud that's becoming a hate-triangle of sorts between Dante West, Giovanni Valentino, and now even XHW part-owner Hendrix Walker. In the scheduled match between West and Valentino, Walker changed the match to pit Valentino against the little known recent XHW Academy graduate Jakob Anderson. As unbelievable as it sounds, it was Anderson who emerged victorious after Walker decided to make his presence known, decking West with a steel chair before executing two Enforcements on his former protege, Valentino. With only one PPV left before West is set to retire, the world is anticipating something big from these three.

The X-Core division left Full Throttle the same way that it came in with Draven Torette as champion. Despite a valiant effort put forward by Daman "no more gimmicks" Arress, the Shining Light still found a way to win. No matter what people might think about his personality deficiencies, Torette is a talented in-ring performer, and, together with Arress, gave the the Japanese faithful something to write home about.

In what I can only call one of the most bizarre endings I might have ever seen, Cordelia Murphy and Frankie Adams fought to a double pin in their Undisputed Women's Championship match, leaving both the competitors and those watching with a bad taste in their mouth. No word just yet on how the company plans on settling the dispute, but with Grace Rourke throwing her cash at management for a #1 contender's spot, this division is about as hot as it's going to get!

The night was not without its surprises, either. In the "Battle Without Honor or Humanity Challenge," Christian Cage found himself being humiliated, defeated by the challenger who we all thought was Steve Lombardi, the man better known as the Brooklyn Brawler. However, the arena exploded in cheers when it was revealed that the man behind the mask was actually Roger Reinhardt, formerly retired XHW superstar. Now it appears that Reinhardt is back, and Cage and JBL believe that they have unfinished business. Look forward to where this goes, folks, because I personally believe it has all the makings of a classic.

Not to be outdone, the match of the night undoubtedly went to the Undisputed Championship match between the All or Nothing battle royal winner, Johnny Diamond, and the Great Darkness himself, the Japanese Seaman. In an ending sure to be debated all the way to the rematch, the Seaman retained by pinning Diamond for the 1, 2, 3. However, Diamond believes that he kicked out of the pin in time, and was rewarded for his solid effort by Lucy Walker and her recently introduced sister, Claire Logan, with a "golden ticket." Essentially, Diamond can claim a rematch whenever he wants between now and Superbrawl II, including the PPV itself. Only time will tell what this spurned superstar decides to do with his chance...

That was it for the big show itself. In the Xtreme All Access pre-show, we saw a good effort from many of the new superstars, including wins by Reno Drake, all three members of the intimidating GWO, and Jimi Saint We also saw James getting dumped by Team Michaels, the DragonGate gaining the #1 contendership for the Tornado Tag Team Championship, and the always enigmatic Jimm Red defeating Kurt Angle, Mr. Jingles, and Doc Hammer to become the second Anarchy Cup Graduate. However, the night took a dark turn in two instances when Johnny Blade held Carmen Lewis hostage until being granted a cage match against Whitesnake, and especially when the Next Generation, led by J.T. Cash, issued a violent beatdown on Rob Gunn. Without a doubt, there will be some serious retribution on a number of levels stemming from this show.

Keep your eyes open this edition of Saturday Night Anarchy. Not only will we see the cage match between 'Snake and Blade, but we'll see the debut of the quirky Bean Brothers against an all-female team of O.D.B. and Casey Dodge, Mav Harley going against newcomer "The Chance," two women's division matches pitting Tyler Kiss against Freyja and Audree Gates against Grace Rourke, and the crowning of a new champion for Anarchy: the Bronx Champion. Twenty men enter, one exits a new champion.

Over on WarZone, we'll finally see the answer to the mystery clock countdown (hopefully), two X-Core division matches with Scott Walker and Chris Crawford going at it as well as Alyx Gates facing off against Daman Arress, a Universal division match pitting Joe Riggs against Dakota Burrows, and two mixed-division matches with Eddie Rourke fighting Jimm Red in his Warzone debut and Dante West and Mike Hoss squaring off in a challenge match from the Hellraiser. However, the match that most people will have their eyes on is the main event tag match with two former enemies facing two former enemies: Christian Cage and J.T. Cash battling Reinhardt and Rob Gunn. What a line-up!

In backstage news, it appears that Cupid's arrow didn't completely miss the mark in the XHW. Many have seen Audree Gates and Scott Walker's budding romance become full bloom in what seems like minutes over recent weeks. These days, it's rare to see one without the other. In other news, the XHW Awards took place not too long ago, and it was a pleasure to see all the superstars receiving recognition for their hard work. Winners included Jakk Levy, Hendrix Walker, Dakota Burrows, Ben Hampton, Excessive Force, Johnny Diamond and Mike Hoss, and the Elite. Full award results can be seen at XHW.com. Also, some management-client relationships have been formed recently. Jakob Anderson has now set-up shop in the Conner McAvoy camp, as well as J.T. Cash joining JBL's team. All that aside, it's the talk of Roxas Knoxx and Maverick Harley that's truly dominating the conversation backstage of late. But I'll leave juicy gossip like that for George Daniels...

That's it for updates this week folks. As I said, if there's anything more you'd like to see information on, just let me know! Until next time, this is Xavier Synn; thanks for indulging me!