|
Post by Firehawk on Dec 30, 2018 4:54:49 GMT
The Blackwood Academy is, essentially, a women's training ground meant to be where the future of Phoenix Rising's women's division hones their skills before they move to the main fed later on. But the Academy is also intent on opening its doors to those who may have no intention of setting foot in Phoenix Rising... indeed, the Academy is set to become a federation in its own right despite its deep ties to Firehawk Sentarl's company. Started by German-Canadian rookie Christina Wagner and veteran Eve Blackwood, the Academy was created as a place for a new generation of women to sharpen their skills and become the future of the wrestling business. The Academy's first show took place on December 29th, 2018, as a tournament to crown its first champion. Twitch: www.twitch.tv/videos/356226123Youtube: youtu.be/ThpWC5NO7N4Quick Results Round of 16
Christina Wagner def. Vivian Forester Iris Coleman def. Jessika Boom Emma Travers def. Baby Peregrine Katherine White def. Sung Moon Leona Sterling def. Amber Wright Alena Ramsey def. Anna Bryant Nana Yoon def. Rhiannon Banes Heather Wild def. Keiko Maeda
Quarterfinals
Christina Wagner def. Iris Coleman Emma Travers def. Katherine White Leona Sterling def. Alena Ramsey Heather Wild def. Nana Yoon
Semifinals
Christina Wagner def. Emma Travers Leona Sterling def. Heather Wild
Special Trainer Exhibition
Eve Blackwood and Winifred Wright def. Shiana Sentarl and Rilantha De Nav
FINAL
Leona Sterling def. Christina Wagner Write-ups Round of 16A hot start to the night as Christina set the tone: she was going to be the one to beat, without a doubt. Vivian gave this one her best, but Wagner overwhelmed her and came away with the big first-round victory. This was as good a debut as anyone could ever want. Iris Coleman made her debut in beyond impressive fashion, and while Jessika gave this one her all, Iris was just a bit too much in the end, planting the Dynamite fangirl with a massive backdrop that put her away, and put Iris on a collision course with another powerhouse. Emma did her best to ground Peregrine here, but the young luchadora seemed to have things well in hand near the end of the match... at least until Emma snapped her into a rollup that narrowly took the win, just barely squeaking Emma by into the quarterfinal. Katherine White was in no mood to see her night end so soon, and took it to Sung Moon with no hesitation. She delivered no less than THREE Kamigoyes in this match, the third scoring the big win over the young Korean. In the lower half of the bracket, Leona Sterling set her own tone. Picking Amber Wright apart, the Scottish fighter ran her way through Amber Wright and never even had to bring her dangerous ground game to bear... Either Alena was beyond motivated tonight, or Anna's head was elsewhere, but there was no doubt that Alena simply wiped the floor with the young Boise native. No doubt Alena was eager to take on her fellow Scot in Leona in the second round. The true rookies faced off at the bottom of the bracket, and Nana Yoon made herself the center of attention for a time, taking down the Welsh Rhiannon Banes with her impressive German suplex. Heather Wild didn't back down against the young Japanese powerhouse that was Keiko Maeda. Fighting her way out of a powerbomb, Heather would land a double-arm DDT and pick up the win, in what would be a very good night for the aspiring heel. QuarterfinalAlmost certainly the match of the night, with Iris Coleman looking like an absolute beast even in defeat. Iris was bloody for most of this match, and yet still refused to back down time and time again, but Christina would finally land a huge Hercules Cutter, ultimately taking the match. But Iris clearly has a strong future in the Academy. Emma Travers continued an improbable run as she took on Katherine White, and picked the brash young woman apart with ease. Her Surgical Precision (Jail Hold) would end this one in stunningly brief fashion. While Alena absolutely obliterated poor Anna Bryant in the first round, she ran into a wall in Leona Sterling, unable to keep pace with the quick, precise strikes. Leona flattened Alena with another rush of strikes and moved on to the semifinal. Heather Wild made sure that she was seen as the best of the true rookies, as she brought down Nana Yoon, landing a big elbow drop late in the match to score a hard-fought victory. Heather was heard backstage: "Bring her on. I'll put Leona to sleep if she takes her eyes off me for a second!" SemifinalAs impressive as Emma was in her first two matches, Christina Wagner put her run to an end here, overpowering Emma with her raw strength and sharp elbow strikes, eventually flattening Emma with a running elbow out of the corner. Still, there's no doubt that Emma is not the weak young woman that we saw debut months ago on Proving Ground. Heather wanted to put Leona to sleep, but instead found herself steadily being torn apart by Leona's strikes, and for the first time in the tournament, her Guillotine hold. Heather tried to score the upset on a number of occasions, but Leona would take her down with another strike rush, and made her way into the final. ExhibitionNobody really anticipated Eve being a major factor in this match, and yet, she was surprisingly effective in the ring. Shiana and Ril seemed to have trouble working together, while Eve and Winifred appeared to be on the same page... and Eve would finally get Shiana isolated in her corner, locking a Cross Armbreaker on the Queen of Phoenix Rising, and forcing the tapout to end the trainer's exhibition. Final MatchChristina Wagner was dominant throughout the entire tournament... until she ran into Leona Sterling. The redheaded Scot was a machine here, steadily wearing Christina down before she finally took the German powerhouse down, landed a diving elbow, and scored the tournament victory and the Academy Championship. Congratulations to Leona Sterling! Current Academy Rankings
I'm gonna stop tracking the full rankings here, I always forget to do it and so it's never, ever accurate.
Academy Champion: Helena Lundgren
Academy Tag Team Champions: Virginia Caldwell and Fiona Walsh
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Dec 30, 2018 5:00:19 GMT
With that first show completed, and the Academy intended to be a larger project than my other side project (Evergreen Wrestling), it'll be getting its own thread so as not to clutter the Phoenix Rising thread. In addition, I am set to open the Academy's doors to other female rookie edits, with the following guidelines to be kept in mind:
- Edits must be 100 points or less to start. 60 points is my baseline for "true rookie" edits, those who are coming in never having a single match. Other Academy edits range from 80 points, to 100 points, to 115 points (only held by Anna Bryant and Vivian Forester, who have been staples of Proving Ground for some time now and thus are a step above.)
- Logic shouldn't be excessive. Try not to have an edit that spams the same moves constantly (I'm trying to avoid my own edits being guilty of the same), and for a "true rookie", they should have at most a finisher and two signatures, none of which should be overly fancy moves.
- Female-sized edits only for now, please. None of the roster (save two of the trainers) are above Female-size. If there's a call for larger-sized women to take part, I may open it up as a separate division, but for now, I'm going to stick to just the one size.
That's all I can think of for the moment. I should be clear that I'm probably going to be vetting the edits that come through pretty heavily, but I don't want to offend anyone that submits an edit, either. I'll try to keep an open mind on the edits that come through.
|
|
|
Post by Senator Phillips on Dec 30, 2018 5:18:23 GMT
"White Hot" Rei Hasegawa should make her way over for some valuable learning experience. Whether she thinks she needs it or not.
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Dec 30, 2018 9:08:40 GMT
We've already discussed Rei's entry, so she's definitely in for it. I'll have her on the first house show in a couple of weeks, no doubt about that. I went over every match of the tournament out of curiosity, because once again my stupid brain decided "Hey. Statistics are fun." And I'd intended to attach some kind of progression to how much ring-time an edit has (Though I wasn't going to track it on the tournament since it'd favor only the people who won their matches.) But, that said, I noted down how long each edit was in the ring for across all of their tournament matches. Data beneath the spoiler tag. Christina Wagner: 56:55
Leona Sterling: 51:27
Heather Wild: 45:28
Emma Travers: 37:56
Iris Coleman: 35:29
Nana Yoon: 31:37
Katherine White: 22:13
Alena Ramsey: 21:33
Jessika Boom: 18:29
Baby Peregrine: 15:34
Vivian Forester: 15:08
Rhiannon Banes: 14:26
Keiko Maeda: 13:41
Sung Moon: 12:38
Amber Wright: 12:06
Anna Bryant: 8:48 This is, of course, assuming I haven't fucked up my math somewhere along the way. But a trend definitely emerged: of course, the four semifinalists had the longest time in the ring overall, but the top three were -unusually- higher than the rest of the field. It certainly doesn't help Emma that her second-round match went so quickly, though, otherwise she'd probably be sitting in a similar spot to the other three. Anyway, I've split the roster evenly, now (or, well, as evenly as I can without dipping into the rookies, who have their own split), and for the time being most of the matches will be simple face vs. heel matchups, with a tag match or two mixed into each card. I have a tentative card for the first house show, but it may yet change still based on who else signs up, plus I'm intending to make one more true rookie to finish balancing them out at three faces, three heels (Faces are Peregrine, Rhiannon and Nana, heels are Keiko and Heather.) Oh, before I forget, the reason that the balance is off right now is 'cause Hana also changed Tara Helmsley to fit with the Academy parameters, she'll be a part of it as well.
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Jan 14, 2019 3:29:59 GMT
So, the first Academy show will be posted on Tuesday, and I should probably go ahead and put the card up for it. This one won't be streamed, it's already been done, and when Tuesday rolls around I'll post the results and write-ups. The card for said show looks like so: Nana Yoon (Hana) and Baby Peregrine (Dawn) vs. Heather Wild and Keiko Maeda
Rhiannon Banes vs. Maria Marella (aroo)
Anna Bryant vs. Alena Ramsey
Sung Moon vs. Christina Wagner
Jessika Boom and Iris Coleman vs. Rei Hasegawa (Senator) and Katherine White
Vivian Forester vs. Tara Helmsley (Hana)
Amber Wright vs. Fiona Walsh (Lefty)
Emma Travers vs. Leona SterlingFuture cards will probably follow a similar progression to this one: the true rookies start the card with a couple of matches, likely to involve a tag match, before the slightly more experienced ones take over, and the Academy Champion will always hold the main event slot.
Furthermore, I think I've figured out a decent progression system for the Academy that I'll be using for my own edits taking part. This is NOT REQUIRED for other people to use unless they feel it's what they want to use for progression themselves.
Firstly, every match an edit participates in is worth two overall points. A win gives them one extra. If the match goes at least fifteen minutes, both edits get an extra point. If the match goes at least twenty, they get another.
Example: Rhiannon Banes and Keiko Maeda have a match, both are guaranteed two points regardless of the outcome. Keiko wins the match in 17 minutes, so Keiko gets four points, Rhiannon gets three. Had the match gone, say, 21 minutes, Keiko would get five points, Rhiannon would get four.
Points can be saved or spent however the creator likes, on parameters, skills, speed, all of it. The time bonuses reward edits that work a bit more methodically, but doesn't reward dragging the match out pointlessly.
Simple enough to understand, I hope. I'll also note down how many points each edit earned for each match, in case anyone wants to use it as a guideline to progress their edits.
One final note: tag matches get one more extra point for going past 25 minutes, since tag matches are supposed to go longer in the first place, so a tag match win going 25+ earns the edit six points.
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Jan 15, 2019 20:55:03 GMT
The Blackwood Academy has held its first house show, and I'd say it went quite well as a debut. Their next show will be on the 26th, and will be streamed. Below will be the match results (screenshots included), and how many points each edit earned for the match (including outsider edits, in case anyone wants to use the progression system mentioned above.) House Show Results A strong performance from both teams, but a number of missed opportunities by the heels led to Baby Peregrine tagging into the match, and catching Keiko Maeda with a running roll-up, which Heather seemed to have no interest in breaking up. Nana and Peregrine claim the first win of the night. Nana and Peregrine: 5 points Heather and Keiko: 4 points A lot of back-and-forth between the Welsh rookie and the young prodigy, but Rhiannon failed to finish the job that she clearly had control of for much of the match, allowing Maria to slip behind, land a reverse DDT, and shift into her F- full nelson camel clutch finisher, giving her the victory in her Academy debut. Maria: 4 points Rhiannon: 3 points A much better showing from Anna in this first-round tournament rematch, Anna needing to bounce back from a crushing defeat to the Scottish rookie. Anna pulled out all the stops this time, delivering every one of her signature moves, and keeping Alena from bringing her own devastating offense to bear in turn. There's certain to be a rubber match between these two in the very near future. Anna: 3 points Alena: 2 points Both women looked incredible here. Sung Moon was as intense as we've ever seen her, keeping pace with the powerhouse and delivering no less than THREE Scissors Kicks, but couldn't put Wagner away... though she did manage to wear the German-Canadian out by the end of the match, making Christina take wild risks she normally wouldn't have in an effort to put the Korean down. A Hercules Cutter finally put this one to rest, but Christina looked exhausted after the 20-minute war. Christina: 5 points Sung: 4 points A wild match from bell-to-bell, with everyone getting their shots in, and Rei Hasegawa proving an asset for her team as she saved the match on more than one occasion when Katherine looked to be down and out. But it was the Wrecking Ball that stepped up to deliver the final blows, as Iris Coleman would take the Japanese rookie to the mats, and forced a near-instant submission after nearly half an hour of struggle between the two teams. Iris and Jessika: 6 points Rei and Katherine: 5 points This was practically two different matches in both halves. Tara had full control over the first half, dominating Vivian up and down the ring before mocking the Lilac by stealing her German Suplex finisher! From there, after Vivian kicked out, the tide began to turn as Vivian started to put the pressure on Tara, locking her into a few different submission holds in an effort to stop the brash young woman from scoring the upset... but ultimately, Tara Helmsley picked up the win, and didn't hesitate to gloat over it post-match, as well. Tara: 4 points Vivian: 3 points A strong showing by both women, ended with a single mistake by Amber, falling victim to the dreaded rana-bomb. Amber seemed to have things under control near the end, trying to wear Fiona down for a submission, but couldn't finish the job, and seemed to start taking risks out of frustration... and she paid for it. Lessons learned, we can only hope. Fiona: 4 points Amber: 3 points Essentially pure dominance by the Academy Champion, as Leona steadily picked Emma apart. She gave up a bit of offense in the second half of the match, but sealed the win with a diving elbow drop, and showed that her winning the tournament to become champion was far from a fluke. Leona: 3 points Emma: 2 points For any who want to get in for the show on the 26th, I'd like to have your edits no later than the day before.
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Jan 24, 2019 2:28:30 GMT
The card for January's end of the month show has been finalized (unless someone submits an edit in the next two days), so here's what we're looking at for the 26th. Baby Peregrine vs. Keiko Maeda
Nana Yoon and Jessika Boom vs. Heather Wild and Fiona Walsh
Rhiannon Banes and Emma Travers vs. Maria Marella and Melody Bryant
Katherine White vs. Alena Ramsey
Anna Bryant vs. Christina Wagner
Ayako Asami (Takuan) vs. Sung Moon
Rei Hasegawa vs. Vivian Forester
Tara Helmsley vs. Amber Wright
Iris Coleman vs. Leona Sterling for the Academy ChampionshipBaby Peregrine remains perhaps the most impressive of the young rookies in the Academy, and has a chance to prove it one-on-one against the budding Japanese powerhouse that is Keiko Maeda. Speed vs. power rears its head yet again in the opener.
Nana Yoon has been quite a force in her short time in the Academy, and she'll be teaming up with another energetic young woman in Jessika Boom, as they take on the duo of Heather Wild and Fiona Walsh. It should be a solid showcase of what everyone involved can do.
Rhiannon Banes has had a rough start to her young career, but working alongside Emma Travers, no stranger to struggle herself, might help her deal with adversity: she's likely to face it here as they take on the impressive prodigy, Maria Marella, and the debuting Melody Bryant, the younger sister of Anna. Melody's rumored to be quite the athlete, stronger than she appears, so we'll see how she rises to the occasion here.
Katherine White is still intent on proving herself here in the Academy, and she's got a chance to do just that against one of the strongest competitors on the roster in Alena Ramsey. The Scottish high-flyer has been a serious threat, however, and Katherine will have to bring her best to stand a chance.
Anna Bryant seeks to topple the biggest, strongest woman in the Academy as she takes on Christina Wagner, a woman that came achingly close to becoming Academy Champion in the tournament. There's no doubt that Wagner is likely one of the best in the Academy, and she'll aim to prove it by crushing the young Idahoan.
Ayako Asami makes her Academy debut, signing just days ago, and she'll be set to take on the Korean-American Sung Moon in her debut match. We'll be sure to see if Ayako can make a good impression on her first night in action.
Rei Hasegawa came to the Academy insisting that she did not need to be here... she's got a chance to back up her claim as she takes on the woman with the longest career out of the bunch, Vivian Forester. Vivian is no stranger to people like Rei... will she be able to bring her powerful German suplex to bear, or tie the Japanese rookie up in knots?
Tara Helmsley scored a surprise upset at the last show, taking down Vivian Forester and gloating over her win. Now she sets her sights on Amber Wright, daughter of the legendary Winifred, and Amber will be looking to take the brash young rookie down a few pegs...
Iris Coleman has been nothing short of the single most impressive woman in the Academy since day one. She went to war with Jessika Boom in the first round of the tournament, then stepped it up even further in a losing effort to Christina Wagner in her next match... and then, alongside the woman she beat in the tournament, forced Rei Hasegawa to admit defeat. Now she gets a chance at the glory she missed out on in the tournament as she takes on Leona Sterling, with the Scottish redhead's Academy Championship on the line...
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Jan 27, 2019 3:05:18 GMT
In under half an hour, the Academy's January live show begins. www.twitch.tv/firehawk2289Should go by fairly quickly, but we'll see what happens.
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Jan 27, 2019 5:09:32 GMT
The Academy's January show is done, and a few interesting results came out of this one. Let's take a look. Twitch: www.twitch.tv/videos/370564555Youtube: youtu.be/j6n1VaEWKzUQuick Results Baby Peregrine def. Keiko Maeda Jessika Boom and Nana Yoon def. Heather Wild and Fiona Walsh Maria Marella and Melody Bryant def. Rhiannon Banes and Emma Travers Katherine White def. Alena Ramsey Christina Wagner def. Anna Bryant Sung Moon def. Ayako Asami Rei Hasegawa def. Vivian Forester Amber Wright def. Tara Helmsley Leona Sterling def. Iris Coleman to retain the Academy Championship Write-ups A very strong showing from both women in the opener, with Keiko trying her hardest to ground Peregrine with her power moves. But Peregrine would eventually out-pace the young Japanese rookie, and landed a frog splash followed by snapping Keiko up in a Magistral, giving the young luchadora a big win to start the night. Peregrine: 3 points Keiko: 2 points A wild one from start to finish, a ton of back-and-forth with moments of peril for both teams. Heather Wild brought her sleeper hold to bear against Nana Yoon on two separate occasions, but Jessika Boom was there to make the save both times, and it'd be Nana that would put this one down in a sequence that looked as professional as anyone could've done it. Great showing, and a fantastic tag match. Jessika and Nana: 6 points Heather and Fiona: 5 points While Rhiannon and Emma gave this one their all, it felt like Maria and the debuting Melody had their number this time around, and a strong, impressive showing from Melody carried her team to a win off a diving elbowdrop, handing Rhiannon her third straight loss. Can the young Welsh woman bounce back from this losing streak to start her career? Maria and Melody: 4 points Rhiannon and Emma: 3 points Katherine and Alena pulled out all the stops early, and never let up for a second, both women throwing everything they had at each other barely a third of the way into the match. This was intense, but Katherine seems to be learning from her mistakes, showing no hesitation late in the match when she had the upper hand, and trapping Alena in a submission hold that threatened to pull the Scottish rookie's shoulder right out of its socket. This one's a big win for Katherine, that's for sure. Katherine: 4 points Alena: 3 points Anna Bryant is a fighter, there can't be any doubt about that. She just kept getting back up as Christina fought to keep her down, the German even grabbing a chair out of frustration before landing a huge Hercules Cutter onto it... which STILL didn't keep Anna down! Eventually, though, the DDTs would do their job, and Christina would pick up a hard-fought win... still, this was far from the dominant win Christina would've asked for. Christina: 4 points Anna: 3 points Hard-hitting match here, with Ayako making a solid first impression. But Sung Moon was not going to be denied here, throwing out every last one of her big-time moves, culminating in a thunderous Scissors Kick that finally kept Ayako down, and gave the young Korean-American a big win. Sung: 3 points Ayako: 2 points Vivian seemed to have Rei's number early on, pressing the brash Japanese rookie hard in the early goings. But as the match progressed, Rei seemed to find a second wind, and began to counter Vivian's offense more and more, stuffing her attempts to finish things off. A ref bump late in the match cost Rei a potential fall off the Alabaster Smasher, but her second attempt went much better, and Rei Hasegawa scores a stunning victory over one of the Academy's top students! Rei: 3 points Vivian: 2 points A strong match between these two, with Amber working from behind for quite a bit of it, struggling to get anything going against Tara. However, Tara's cocky attitude finally came back to haunt her, her continued taunts towards Amber causing her to lower her guard... and Amber snapped her up in a quick counter-pin, picking up a comeback victory. Amber: 3 points Tara: 2 points Both women clearly had studied each other before this match, as both sides seemed to have an answer for nearly everything: with one exception. Iris simply couldn't match Leona's Guillotine, the champion able to lock it in mid-way through the match... and from there, it seemed like the tide was turning. While Iris was able to keep fighting, Leona would eventually lock a second Guillotine in, and Iris was forced to tap out, ending her hopes of becoming Academy Champion. Leona: 3 points Iris: 2 points
|
|
|
Post by Senator Phillips on Jan 31, 2019 3:07:43 GMT
Rei Hasegawa:(In Japanese) <It may have taken me a little bit of time to adjust, but now I believe that my personal quality is impossible to deny. Certainly that unfortunate masked woman has no choice but to admit her clear inferiority. I do not mean to be ungracious, but this is the point I was attempting to make before. I am sadly, just too good for this. I am too refined to learn anything here in America, certainly here in this backwater school. This is a suitable place in life for the little girls who did not grow up with a mother as a professional wrestler and a father who does more business in a day than this institution does in a year. It is fine, if this is where one's association with the profession is beginning. But for a lady such as myself, this is merely...a waste of my valuable time.>
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Feb 1, 2019 22:50:46 GMT
So, new plan for the scheduling of Blackwood Academy house shows: While I started out thinking I'd simply run them on the 15th of each month, it actually creates a slight imbalance. I'd much prefer that the shows between the live ones (Which will continue to be on the last Saturday of the month) to be evenly spaced out. Going forward, the non-televised Academy shows will take place at the halfway point between the last live show, and the next one. This means that the next house show will be posted on February 9th, coincidentally next Saturday. The card for that show will be as follows:
Rhiannon Banes vs. Keiko Maeda
Melody Bryant vs. Nana Yoon
Heather Wild and Maria Marella vs. Baby Peregrine and Ayako Asami
Vivian Forester vs. Alena Ramsey
Jessika Boom vs. Tara Helmsley
Anna Bryant vs. Sung Moon
Iris Coleman and Emma Travers vs. Rei Hasegawa and Fiona Walsh
Christina Wagner vs. Amber Wright
Leona Sterling vs. Katherine White
Rhiannon Banes and Keiko Maeda are both winless in their time in the Academy thus far. They've been booked to face each other to break at least one of their slumps. The loser here will spend some time with the trainers to figure out what's going on.
Melody Bryant faces her first singles opponent in the impressive Nana Yoon, stepping into her first singles match since the tournament. Yoon has been on the winning side for both of her post-tournament matches: can she keep that rolling against Melody, whose debut match was an impressive one?
Heather Wild teams up with the prodigy, Maria Marella, to tackle a dangerous team indeed: Baby Peregrine standing alongside newly-arrived Ayako Asami. Ayako went down in defeat to Sung Moon at January's live show, but showed some impressive strength in defeat to Sung Moon... with Peregrine watching her back, she may be capable of showing off what she can do much more than ever.
Vivian Forester suffered a humiliating defeat to Rei Hasegawa at the January show, on the heels of also losing to Tara Helmsley. Vivian seems to be slipping badly, and the trainers now hope she can handle Alena Ramsey, who's been a threat in every match she's been in thus far... she's no stranger to taking on the top of the class in Anna Bryant, but Vivian hasn't shown the same aptitude as of yet.
Jessika Boom returns to singles competition after January was spent teaming up with Iris Coleman and Nana Yoon. She'll be tackling Tara Helmsley, who's shown sparks of being an incredible talent... if a bit brash and rude to her opponents in the process. Can she keep up with Jessika, though?
Anna Bryant and Sung Moon are probably considered two of the top students of the Academy by now, both with the experience from Proving Ground and the records to back it up. Although Anna went down in defeat to Christina Wagner last show, she put up an impressive fight against the German-Canadian, while Sung Moon handled the debuting Ayako Asami with little trouble... can Anna bounce back from losing to the powerhouse of the Academy?
Iris Coleman might be the future of the Academy. Although her challenge for the Academy Championship fell short, she's likely to bounce back as she teams up with Emma Travers to take on the team of Rei Hasegawa and Fiona Walsh... it's unclear whether Rei appreciates having a partner at all, but the trainers have assured every member of the Academy roster that everyone will be rotating through tag matches over time... whether they want to or not.
Fresh off of a strong victory over Anna Bryant, Christina Wagner sets her sights on the young Amber Wright, the daughter of the legendary Winifred, the senior trainer at the Academy. Amber has yet to fully live up to her mother's impressive reputation, but she is coming off of a win over Tara Helmsley. Still, Wagner is no joke... a dangerous opponent no matter who you might be...
Finally, Leona Sterling, Academy Champion, steps into the ring with Katherine White. Katherine has been quite the presence: she lost in a tag match alongside Rei Hasegawa last month, but bounced back to beat Alena Ramsey at the live show. Now she gets an opportunity to prove herself against the champion, who took down Iris Coleman to keep her perfect Academy record intact.
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Feb 10, 2019 21:05:25 GMT
Since my internet was out entirely for all of yesterday, I couldn't get this up when it was supposed to go up. So here it is, a day late. Quick Results Rhiannon Banes def. Keiko Maeda Nana Yoon def. Melody Bryant Baby Peregrine and Ayako Asami def. Heather Wild and Maria Marella Vivian Forester def. Alena Ramsey Jessika Boom def. Tara Helmsley Anna Bryant def. Sung Moon Emma Travers and Iris Coleman def. Rei Hasegawa and Fiona Walsh Christina Wagner def. Amber Wright Katherine White def. Leona Sterling Write-ups A solid matchup between the two winless rookies, with Keiko trying her hardest to overpower Rhiannon, delivering two late powerbombs that seemed like they'd put the young Welsh woman away. But Rhiannon fought back, and finally snapped into a Northern Lights Suplex that sealed the victory, the first of her young career. 4 points for Rhiannon, 3 points for Keiko This match was pretty much all Nana Yoon. Besides a small spurt of offense from Melody, and a slightly embarrassing mistake that saw Nana dump herself out of the ring (sliding between Melody's legs and right out onto the floor), the Korean rookie was in control for the entire match, with Melody's offense landing her out of position. An impressive dive to land her stomp led to the win, and Melody will have to figure out just what went wrong here. 3 points for Nana, 2 points for Melody Tag action that was tough to follow at times, with Baby Peregrine and Ayako Asami proving to be quite the dangerous pairing, working together better than expected. Heather and Maria seemed to be operating separately, by contrast, and this might've been what gave their opponents the upper hand... either way, a big Superkick from Peregrine laid Heather out for the pinfall victory. 4 points for Peregrine/Ayako, 3 points for Heather/Maria A strong comeback by Vivian here, weathering the Scot's offense until she could take control... and she did just that, delivering her signature offense in turn, with open-hand strikes and just a bit of strength to go with it, finally tying Alena up in her signature submission to take the victory. Finally, Vivian seems to have things put back together, getting her first win in a while. 3 points for Vivian, 2 points for Alena A very hard-fought match here, with Tara's attitude getting in her way again: failing to line up a big lariat that could've turned the tide, she'd wind up missing entirely. This alone didn't cost her the match, but she ran into trouble shortly after as Jessika began to turn up the pressure, nearly taking her out with her incredible moonsault. But it was her idol's Dynamite Cutter that scored her the win, much to Jessika's delight. One step closer to being just like Blake. 3 points for Jessika, 2 points for Tara A very, very strong performance from Anna here, finally showing why she's Rilantha De Nav's star student. Sung Moon did what she could to keep up, and scored a nearfall off of the Book End, but Anna would not be denied here, landing sharp, crisp German suplexes, and finishing off with her Small Package Bomb to take the victory without much of a struggle. 3 points for Anna, 2 points for Sung Once again, it felt like all the teamwork came from one side, while Rei and Fiona didn't quite seem to ever get on the same page. Iris and Emma, meanwhile, worked together well, with Iris's raw power and striking ability blending well with Emma's technical prowess. However, nobody can admit that they saw Emma being the one who'd finish this match, but finish it she did, trapping Fiona Walsh in her team's corner, landing a dragon screw and locking her in Surgical Precision, forcing a tapout and giving her and Iris the big win. That said, Iris Coleman had some choice words for Rei Hasegawa after the match, seemingly responding to her big talk after last months live show. 4 points for Emma/Iris, 3 points for Rei/Fiona What seemed like quite the mismatch on paper turned out to be one of the most hard-hitting matches of the night, with Amber holding her own against the powerhouse, trying to cut her down by targeting Christina's legs and shaking her base. A Side Roll Stunner looked like Amber would score a huge upset, but Christina powered out just before the three-count, and would fire back just a few moments later with a chokeslam that finally left Amber down and out. Still, this was probably the strongest showing Amber Wright has had since joining the Academy... there were glimmers of a dangerous rising star here, one to keep an eye on for the future. 4 points for Christina, 3 points for Amber This is, without a doubt, the most shocking result of the show. Katherine White went in with nobody expecting her to stand up to the Academy Champion, only to come roaring out of the gate with a mission, delivering an impressive array of offense that Leona apparently couldn't keep pace with. Nearfall after nearfall, the champion kept fighting out, but couldn't mount her own devastating offense against Katherine, who kept her guessing all the while, twisting her up into submissions, landing powerful bombs, and finally, a crushing Kamigoye that seemed to rattle the Scottish champion's head, and ended Leona's undefeated streak... Katherine White has earned herself the shot at the Academy Championship on February 23. 3 points for Katherine, 2 points for Leona Iris Coleman "Y'know, it's just a matter of time, Rei Hasegawa, before you start to find yourself squaring off with opponents that aren't gonna put up with your shit... you got Anna Bryant next show, and I've already talked to the trainers about getting you one-on-one sometime in March, too. You wanna come in here swaggering around like you're better than everyone else, you better be ready to prove it, 'cause the moment anyone finds out the truth, you're gonna get ripped to shreds... but when I get my shot, you're gonna crumble, 'cause I am the Academy's Wrecking Ball, and soon there's not gonna be anyone that can get in my way!" Katherine White "Leona Sterling has one big problem: she overlooks her opponents because she thinks she's better than they are. She thinks that because she's the Academy Champion, that she won the tournament, that she's beaten so many of us, that she's gonna just choke out anyone who steps into the ring with her. But take a look at the footage, Leona, 'cause I'm pretty sure I beat your ass up and down that ring... and I'll do it again, live, in front of a real audience, and take that championship off of you."
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Feb 19, 2019 17:49:00 GMT
This Saturday is the last of February... hence, it's time again for the Academy to hold its live show for the month. After the recent house show, a fair few things have been set in play: so here's a look at what Saturday's card will be. Keiko Maeda and Maria Marella vs. Melody Bryant and Rhiannon Banes
Nana Yoon vs. Ayako Asami
Baby Peregrine vs. Heather Wild
Alena Ramsey vs. Jessika Boom
Vivian Forester vs. Tara Helmsley
Special Trainer Tag: Rilantha De Nav and Emma Travers vs. Winifred and Amber Wright
Iris Coleman vs. Fiona Walsh
Christina Wagner vs. Sung Moon
Anna Bryant vs. Rei Hasegawa
Main Event: Katherine White vs. Leona Sterling for the Academy ChampionshipKeiko Maeda now feels the pressure more than ever: her mother's joined Phoenix Rising, and will certainly be keeping an eye on her more closely from here on out. She'll team up with Maria Marella to take on Melody Bryant and Rhiannon Banes... a rookie tag team showcase set to display just what each of these young women is capable of.
Nana Yoon has been perhaps the most impressive of the true Academy rookies, and she'll have a chance to prove it against Ayako Asami. Ayako has proved to be a dangerous foe, but Yoon has quite the talent for handling opponents far over her own head...
Baby Peregrine has probably been the other rookie that's taken the Academy by storm. The young luchadora is not only undefeated since her loss in the tournament, she's also scored the fall in both of her tag matches. Here, against Heather Wild, she'll be looking to pick up yet another big win, continuing to live up to her family name.
Alena Ramsey's Academy tenure thus far has been... erratic, to say the least. Her opponent for this show won't make things any easier: Jessika Boom has been relentless in every match she's been in, and she'll look to continue impressing her hero, Blake Dynamite, in this matchup.
Vivian Forester has been struggling badly as of late. Off the heels of a loss to Rei Hasegawa, she did manage to bounce back and defeat Alena Ramsey at the February house show. But Tara Helmsley has been a major surprise in her time with the Academy... and if Vivian doesn't bring her best to this one, she could suffer another major upset.
The trainers are stepping into the ring this month, alongside their chosen students. With Anna Bryant otherwise occupied taking on Rei Hasegawa, Rilantha De Nav will step into the ring alongside Emma Travers instead, as they take on the mother/daughter duo that is Winifred and Amber Wright. This could be a small preview of the action we may be getting next Showdown... Ril and Winifred will be on opposite sides again on that show, but with the Phoenix Rising Tag Team Championships on the line. Here, the stakes are less... simply a chance for the younger women to work alongside the veterans.
Iris Coleman has been the must-see woman on the Academy roster from day one. She's lived up to her nickname of the "Wrecking Ball", and now her attention lays firmly on Fiona Walsh, as she prepares to keep her incredible run going. Despite a loss to Leona Sterling last month, Iris's momentum doesn't seem to have slowed at all... and Fiona will need to brace herself for what's to come.
Sung Moon has a tough challenge this week: Christina Wagner is the premiere powerhouse in the Academy, and the Korean will need to continue bringing her best to the table in order to have any chance of victory. Her defeat at the hands of Anna Bryant can't dampen her spirits, though... Sung Moon is certain to keep her head high and continue her brand of entertaining offense a'la Booker T, as always.
Rei Hasegawa's attitude since joining the Academy has been one of pure arrogance. Believing herself better than the entire roster, she scored a major victory over star student Vivian Forester, but watched her tag partner Fiona Walsh fall earlier this month to the team of Iris Coleman and Emma Travers. But now, her sights are set on the main attraction: Rei wants to prove she's better than the best, Anna Bryant, who has continued to be one of the toughest women in the Academy.
This month's house show was capped off by an absolute shocker: Katherine White scored a victory over Academy Champion Leona Sterling. Now Katherine is set for her rematch... this time with the championship on the line. Leona was clearly caught off guard at the house show, but will she still be as shaken up this time around? Could we have a new champion this month?
|
|
|
Post by Senator Phillips on Feb 19, 2019 18:25:05 GMT
Rei Hasegawa:(In Japanese) <When someone is as strikingly beautiful and socially important as myself, it is only natural that they will be the source of much discussion. Unfortunately, there are many sorry, little ones who target their superiors with ugly, unfounded rumors and slights. And because of this, I am forced here to make some corrections. First and foremost, to those who believe that I was a loser in my last appearance here, they are sadly mistaken. It was not my fault that the woman whom I was frustratingly partnered with did not have the class or the ability to stand on her own feet. I forgive her, though, because I realize that it is difficult to begin your career in such a tough sport when one is so disadvantaged. It is not her fault that she grew up in a lesser environment.>
Rei: <But anyway, enough about those trifles, I have heard from many that I am going to face a very difficult opponent in my next match. It is said that I am not even the favorite to win! But I must again correct the deluded, because I am always the favorite. The favorite to win, the favorite to move up in society and the favorite in all your hearts.>
|
|
|
Post by Firehawk on Feb 23, 2019 21:50:02 GMT
Academy show takes place tonight. Due to what happened at last night's Old Guard Challenge, Eve Blackwood will not be the referee for tonight's show, however, a replacement was found easily enough and it won't affect the usual proceedings any.
Planning to start at 7PM Pacific tonight.
|
|