It's Always Darkest...

Welcome back to "Indulging Synn," friends and foes. I hope that everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend, and I'm sure that you're all getting just as excited as I am that we're one weekend closer to Superbrawl II! The road to the biggest show of the year is truly heating up, and this Saturday was no different. Let's get to the results.

This weekend's Saturday Night Anarchy was one of more... criminal that we've had in recent history. The opening match certainly set the tone for the night as newcomer BlkOut did not disappoint in his debut, decimating all three men on the other side of the ring in his four-way match (James, Cleaven Audrey, and Gabriel Alexander). Not only did BlkOut deliver his vicious looking Curb Stomp to get the pin, but he also attacked Alexander in the ring after the match was already over with a knee to the head. However, the animosity escalated when Mav Harley met BlkOut at the top of the entrance ramp and grounded him with an Anti-Aircraft Cannon on the unforgiving steel. More on Mav later.

Just as the opening match and ensuing attack came to a close, sIMON tried to meet up with Claire Logan backstage. The mysterious man who seemingly just wandered in from the desert may have found a friend and manager in Jacob Widmore, but aside from that he's having a rough go just getting the time from somebody.

Casey Blue is back in the ring and, unfortunately, so is Roxas Knoxx. She was woman-handled for the second time in a span of four days and took yet another loss. Blue looked as impressive as the other Casey (Dodge) on WarZone, and Roxas again just looked dreadful. More on Knoxx later.

For those who are fond of the phrase "It's always darkest just before dawn," well, it's pretty damn dark when it comes to Mr. Jingles' Bronx Championship reign so far. Even though Jingles' handler said that a victory over Cortez a couple weeks ago would placate the freak, he still attacked his "target" backstage at Anarchy: Academy diva, Jada. If I were Jingles, which, thank God I'm not, I'd not only be watching for vengeance on the behalf of Diego Cortez, but Jada's friend and perhaps love interest, Reno Drake.

Back now to Maverick Harley and Roxas Knoxx, not altogether surprisingly in the same sentence. After attacking BlkOut earlier in the night, Harley still went out to compete in his match against North Starr against doctor's recommendations. He's probably wishing that he hadn't as the concussion didn't aide him much when he was hit with the Death Star DDT for the pin. Afterwards, the entire New Era, new member BlkOut included, came down to the ring to gloat over Harley, but their celebration was short lived as Asylum and his new friends the "hockey maskers" ran down to fend off the faction. After a short monologue by Asylum and the red masker, the mystery duo revealed themselves as none other than Alyx Gates and Roxas Knoxx, the red and pink maskers respectively. Apparently they're calling themselves the "Chaotic Connection" and joining up with Asylum to fight the New Era as a team. Why Gates and Knoxx would come back to Anarchy to help out is anyone's guess.

The Sheglins have apparently found a new friend in "the Arnold Classic," as the entire collection of hooligans were seen together before the Bean Brothers took on the Lynch Mob. Shockingly, the Mob went down when both brother pinned Leon to claim the victory, but after the match, a furious Alcatraz took it to Danny Bean. Later on in the night, Max Turner would announce that both teams, along with the DragonGate Clan, will be challenging Excessive Force for the Tornado Tag Team Championships on Xtreme All Access during Superbrawl II weekend. Hey, if the big show is going to have three- and four-way matches, why not the pre-show?

In the first real advertisement that we've seen from XHW superstars themselves, our Undisputed Champion, the Japanese Seaman, and Ben Hampton took a shot at Johnny Diamond in a mock-Bud Light ad. They used the "Real Men of Genius" music and theme, crowning Diamond, "Mr. Overrated Main Event Ruiner." Who knew the Great Darkness had a sense of humor?

Continuing to impress is the fishy one himself, Shark Boy. He finally got moved up in the card this weekend and didn't disappoint. Bronko Allen and Slapnutz both may have just seemingly disappeared from the federation altogether, but that Deep Sea Stunner is not a joke, folks.

Could Fixx be on the way back? She's been seen backstage recently, and we even saw a promo for her on Anarchy. Women's division: LOOK OUT.

J.T. Cash made a surprise appearance on the show. Most of us are wishing he hadn't. He came to let the sold out Stomping Grounds crowd know that Rob Gunn is now too injured to compete in their anticipated match at Superbrawl II due to the actions that the entire Next Generation took against him on WarZone. What an ass.

Speaking of let downs, Johnny Blade was unable to make it to the show on Saturday, and as a result his match against Doc Hammer was canceled. That might be a blessing in disguise for the Hammer as he gets his first taste of WarZone competition this Wednesday, and any rest and extra training he can get in would be wise...

Just before the main event, we got a visit from Max Turner for lots and lots of XHW news. Here's the run down:

- Gabriel Alexander, James, and Slapnutz are all fired due to non-performance
- ODB, Casey Dodge, and Tyler Kiss will be taking on Dirk Diver, Billy Coop, and the Iron Sheik at Superbrawl II. If Dirk doesn't show up for the match, he'll be canned.
- ODB and Casey Dodge were seemingly misdirected on the way to the arena (more than likely by Diver), and would be absent for the night's main event.
- The aforementioned tag match at Xtreme All Access for the championships between the Sheglins/the Lynch Mob/the DragonGate Clan/Excessive Force.

With that out of the way, it was time for a very disappointing main event that should have seen enemies and rivalries all over the place. Instead, it was Diego Cortez and Victor Mason trying to hold back the tide of Kurt Angle, Mr. Jingles, Billy Coop, and Dirk's replacement for the night, Mark Matthews. As one would imagine, it was a lost cause, and Angle ended up slapping the Ankle Lock right back on Mason just like last week, getting him to tap for the victory.

In backstage news, it looks like BlkOut can't help but make enemies; now he can add the Lynch Mob's Leon Washington to the list. Leon was also seen with new XHW signee and local Chicagoan Joey Van Dal at the United Center this week.

The intergender interactions were a bit out of control over the weekend. All of the following couples and or confrontations were caught on camera backstage since our last update: Claire Logan and J.T. Cash, Harley and Knoxx (surprised?), Audree Gates and Scott Walker (SURPRISED???), Morgan Garcia and Jay Adams, Alyx Gates and wife Izzy Haner, Draven Torette and Margaret-Anne York (strictly business), North Starr and Claire Logan, Cordelia Murphy and Diego Cortez, Claire Logan and client BlkOut, Reno Drake and Jada, Lucy and Hendrix Walker, Lucy Walker and Johnny Sniper, Harley and Knoxx (AGAIN!), the Gates siblings, and finally, Tyler Kiss and Mike Hoss (definite surprise there). Is there something in the water that I'm missing out on here?

That's about all the backstage news I can handle, folks. Let's get on to this week's WarZone. Here's the card from America's Second City, sweet home, Chicago:

- Doc Hammer and Reno Drake will get a "WarZone Preview" match against Next Generation members Joe Riggs and Jimm Red. Welcome to the big time, boys...
- Aston Michaels and Johnny Sniper will most likely sign their contract for Superbrawl II, but I don't know about that leg of Sniper...
- Billy Coop gets a taste of what it's like against the champion when he takes on Draven Torette in a non-title X-Core Divisional match.
- Cordelia Murphy gets a SB2 tune-up match against Audree Gates.
- The "big dogs" of the Next Generation, J.T. Cash and Johnny Diamond, take on friends Alyx Gates and Scott Walker in a Tornado Tag Team Match.
- In the main event, Mike Hoss and Reinhardt will face off in a challenge match that was agreed upon a couple weeks ago, but just signed for this WarZone. Maybe Lucy was just waiting until she could put the Hellraiser in his back yard against the man from Philly? Perhaps!

That's all I've got for this week. As always, feel free to contact me with anything additional you'd like to see. Until next time, thanks for indulging me!