FRANKIE SUMMERS – CPW’s top 10 most shocking moments of 2018

It’s fair to say that CPW has had it’s fair old share of jaw droppers in the past year. I can’t say from personal experience what crazy surprises have happened, but this has certainly been a fantastic year for surprises no matter when you join. Every show something monumental in some way seems to come out of it, and it always gets the fans talking. Be it a surprise result. Be it a debut that went well or something insane that happened out of the blue that you can’t describe in words. Those ones I feel are the best. So whether they made us laugh, cry or rage, this is my top 10 most shocking moments for 2018.

10. The chicken club win the tug of war.

Wes of the Chicken Club is well known for his rivalry with Alex Conners of the Conners family. He has made many photoshopped images (some of which pretty hilarious) degrading Alex and has even put up a concept poster for a dream match at History 6. However Wes is not a trained athlete, and they wanted some kind of physical contest to show that this was serious. So as we couldn’t have a wrestling match, at Summerfest 3, Alex, Scarecrow, Summer and Marcel formed a team to face Wes, Martin, Kelly and Andrew of the Chicken Club in a special main event, the tug of war. The animosity between these two groups ran so deep that it had to be officiated by then CPW Champion Mr Richards. For those who don’t know, in a tug of war, teams of equal numbers stand either end of a rope and try to pull the opposing team over a marked line in the middle of them. Usually this is done as best of 3 and this was no exception. The first round started off quite close, but it was revealed that Marcel tried to cheat by getting People in the audience to help his side. Thankfully no one took the bait. Then the Chicken Club dug down, pulled and got them over with one strong drag. Round one to the Chicken Club. Second round didn’t last long at all. They didn’t mess around, the Chicken Club pulled with Aggression right off the bat and it was over in less than 30 seconds. The Chicken Club walk away the winners, much to the delight of the audience in the room. What a way to end Summerfest 3. I just can’t wait to see what the Chicken Club do next.

9. Leyton Simms turns a new leaf.

Leyton Simms was known for his angry and volatile personality at the start of 2018, practically exploding out of the academy to busting heads in Nextgen (mainly his own) and yelling at and threatening anyone who got in his way. He took out TJ Sky in between shows and raised the ire of Will Starr, which didn’t end well. Then later on in the year, he was beaten by FIFI and didn’t take well to it, so a final stipulation was made. If FIFI won their next match, FIFI would have Leyton as his love slave. If Leyton wins, FIFI would have his head shaved bald. Leyton won the match after assistance from then guest manager Marcel. Which resulted in FIFI having the look that we see him with now.

He also formed a team with Anthony Mafia known as the Bank Job and they did very well for themselves, getting a place in the 4 team gauntlet at History, and winning a 4 way tag match at a Primetime show. Anthony was Triple Threat champion and had to defend it against Leyton and Morris. We all know how the match ended, but what triggered it was a disagreement and miscommunication between Simms and Mafia. In the end Simms hit the Jailbreaker on Mafia and left him at Morris’ mercy. The crowd loved to see Leyton take a stand for himself, but what he did caught the eye of management who requested that Leyton get professional help, so it was arranged he attend therapy with Dr Gage. He has been attending every session booked and with consent we have been filming these as a case study for his progress. Since then Leyton has taken up the hobby of horticulture and botany. He has developed a distinct love of flowers and finds the different scents affect him in different ways. He mainly goes for daffodils as they calm him and keep him focused, and the best part is, his fortunes seem to be changing too. He’s beaten James Cross, Tom Lindsay and with the help of Stevie and Gage, they won a 6 man tag match at the Xmas Bash. With this run of luck I can see Leyton having great fortune in the next year, and the fans are all rooting for him on his road to recovery. Keep it up Leyton, but never lose that will to bash bozos.

8. Mr Richards announces his return to wrestling

It was an ongoing tease throughout early 2018 that Mr Richards had a big announcement to make, and he was always interrupted in one way or another, usually by Tom Lindsay. In 2017 Mr Richards had surgery on his knees that put him out of action and it was a worry he may never step in the ring to compete again. This is what Tom Lindsay thought. He would always say “We get it, you’re here to announce your retirement.” Along with similar anecdotes. However one time, Mr Richards snatched the microphone after having just about enough of interruptions and make the big announcement that his physician has cleared him to wrestle just one more time, and he had his sights set on Tom and his CPW title. Tom wasn’t able to wreck the fun this time. In light of this announcement, Dominic and Mr Richards decided to bury the hatched over previous disagreements, but then Tom jumped in the ring with the Sledgehammer and broke up this impromptu peace talk. He decked both men and got up on the Turnbuckle to celebrate. A table had been set up from the last match which was no DQ and hadn’t been moved. Mr Richards rose up, pulled off his jacket and hooked Tom Lindsay and smashed him through that table with a vicious powerbomb. Wood sprayed everywhere and the crowd loved every second, finally team CPW was fighting back and sending the message we weren’t going to be pushed around anymore. This was where we truly on the Road to History.

7. Stevie W and George beat the Merseyside Murder Squad

The MMS won the tag team championships at History 5 and since then have been pretty much unstoppable, taking out the House of Beards, The Fallen and the throw together team of Solas and O’Neil. At Gain and Glory they issued an open challenge to anyone brave enough to take them on. 2 people took that chance and it was Hey Ho Steve-O. George and Stevie W coming out of the back to take this pair of loudmouths on. I’ve mentioned this in greater detail in my blog for that show, but in short it was an edge of your seat match that ended in a wonderful unexpected fashion. Mainly involving Stevie cleverly rolling out of his trunks to get away from Dan before George took Dan out to pick up the win. It was an amazing moment that came out of nowhere, and it was just a shame it wasn’t for the titles.

6. Justin Joy turns on Craig West at History 5.

The biggest show of the CPW calendar opened up with a 4 team tag gauntlet match for the CPW Tag team belts then held by the team of West and Joy. They won the belts from the Hillbillies at The 2017 Xmas bash and had defended them valiantly since, even beating the ever talented pair, The Hunter Brothers. They beat anyone who stood in their way, and were just a classic example of what tag team champions ought to be. Great skill and talent, great chemistry and jaw dropping athleticism. As well as being super popular with the fans. However when it got to this gauntlet, the Merseyside Murder Squad got to come out third and face the tired Rainbow Boys and ended up beating them. Next came the champs. The Rainbow Boys put up a hell of a fight and wore the MMS down a bit, by rights this should have been easier for West and Joy, however it didn’t work That way as due to shenanigans and miscommunication, West and Joy ended up losing and this Angered Justin Joy no end, to the point he hit his finisher on Craig twice and spit at a member of the audience. From this point on, the Polish Heartthrob was not the man we knew and admired. He was something different. Hot headed and arrogant, and he had his sights set on Will Starr not long after. However Craig didn’t take this lying down. They wrestled at Get the Strap and Craig would prevail Proving for the second time who the better of the two was. Craig’s appearances have been fleeting after this occurrence and after the absolute barnstormer between Will and Justin, we haven’t seen Justin since. It was a bitter fall out but at least it got resolved.

I have been informed that Justin has retired from wrestling and moved back home to Poland. I must personally thank him, and on behalf of the academy for all the help he’s given me, and the rest of us with training when I first started out. Enjoy your retirement. I sincerely hope we will all do you proud too.

5. Alex Conners wins the Nextgen Championship

Alex Conners, at the beginning of the year had made his presence felt, holding the tag team titles with Big Eli. However his record wasn’t that impressive. He’d lost a good chunk of His matches and ones he did win happened by cheating. However it did lead to a really good feud with Danny O’Neil. Their matches are the stuff CPW is all about. He used to abuse the fans, myself included, and still to this day insult the country that let him in to show off what talents he has. However something in him changed one day, right at the time I started doing this blog. He started becoming fiercer and more aggressive. His move set widened and he became steadily more dangerous to face. Most importantly though, he started winning. He beat Morris, Will Starr and Danny O’Neil in separate outings. Then at Summerfest 3, his efforts were rewarded with a shot at the Nextgen Championship. Now due to several issues his Conners family left one by one, but this did not stop Alex. He seized an opportunity and with a little assist from Will Starr managed to capture the Nextgen championship in the Fatal Four Way match, ending the reign of Sir Isaac Quentin III. This was a shocker as no one saw it coming, but it was still a hard fought win, because nothing is a cheap way to win when there are no rules, like in that match. Alex held onto that belt until December when he lost it to George after a trilogy of fantastic matches. The first being champ vs champ, the second being for a No 1 contenders spot, and the last being for the title. He got a couple of hard fought defences in during his tenure as champ, and it’s a shame that the run was so short lived in a way, but now he has a chance at the first show of the year to win back that title against new champ Tommbie. Let’s see how well he does.

4. The unveiling of the CPW Lineal Heavyweight Championship

Ruler of the Galaxy was the first show we did at our new venue, the Xcel centre in Canley. As well as deciding the 8 man accolade tournament we back started in the summer. Mr Richards lost the CPW Championship to Beast at Betrayal in controversial fashion to say the least. Beast was Champ much to the disgust of the fans. However a new hero had emerged since in the form of Will Starr. He told the world at Media day that he wanted a shot at that belt, and for all of his achievements and his year of being right near the top of the mountain, he was given a chance against Beast. However at Ruler of the Galaxy tournament Will got a fantastic win over Tom Lindsay and was sure fire favourite to beat Stevie W and win the tournament. However as brought up in my blog Mr Richards came out with a sledgehammer and unveiled the new CPW Lineal Heavyweight Championship, a belt made in honour of past champions. The new belt is big, golden and heavy. (I know, I got to hold it. It’s quite the prize.) Mr Richards told Will after his semi-final match that no one deserved a shot at this new belt more in CPW. Then, in an unexpected turn, Mr Richards proceeded to attack Will with the Sledgehammer to the point where he could barely move, and it cost him his chance in the final. Dominic and I had to run out to the ring to help him. The fans were stunned into silence and disbelief. How could the hero to the fans perform an action like this? I made a guess to why this was, but I think it was to show that there was no bias as Will and Beast were at war at this time too. This will all come to a head at Warfare in February. Now Beast is gone, we can see who will win this war in the best of battlegrounds. In the confines of a 15ft high steel cage.

3. Dominic DeWinter vs Tom Lindsay

Tom Lindsay and Dominic DeWinter do not get along, that’s a generally accepted fact. Then again Tom doesn’t get along with anyone in management. He also doesn’t get along with people he’s partnered with, or people in general. He’s even started giving himself a hard time lately when he’s not bigging himself up online of course. When Tom defeated Jake Casanova for the CPW championship in late 2017, he was back on top and in a position to antagonize people once again. He was also Triple Threat champion at this time too, so he had double bragging rights over both promotions. Losing the Triple Threat belt still didn’t stop him however and at Adrenaline, Tom attacked Dominic DeWinter again with the sledgehammer, and this was the straw that broke the camels back. In a fit of rage, spit and choked back swears, Dominic said he was going to take a stand, and at Destination History he wanted Tom in a match. Tom of course not turning down a chance to beat up people he doesn’t like accepted. Of course Dominic stated that he didn’t deserve a title shot, so the match was non-title. But this didn’t reduce the stakes for the match. Dominic, on behalf of CPW management was taking a stand against the man who’s sole motive was just to make our lives miserable. It was a very entertaining match as well as Dominic got some fantastic hits in, but still ultimately lost to the Wasp. It was a very commendable thing Dominic did, to make this stand against him, and stepping in the ring, at the age of 42, being a full time drama teacher and not being a trained wrestler was a twist none of us saw coming. The only issue is that the match didn’t seem to solve much as Tom is still up his usual misdeeds… life goes on.

2. CPW’s darkest hour

Marcel Delice as we know was general manager of Nextgen Wrestling. He used to be quite well liked by the fans for his gruff voice, his great shirts and his flashy shoes and shades. Also the gusto That he would announce shows with. He’s also well known for his dislike for Tom Lindsay for a time. He was one of the ones who started the Wasp movement after all, but after an incident at an episode of Nextgen where Tom Lindsay wreaked havoc at the end and people called BS on the finish to the last match as despite everything that happened, Tom still walked out champion and universally the CPW Galaxy blamed Marcel and called for him to be ousted. Then less than 24 hours later it was revealed that his contract as GM had been terminated. A short time later, he returned to Road to History, but seemingly as a fan. There was a match set between Mr Richards, Will Starr and Danny O’Neil as they were to take on Alex Conners, Isaac Quentin III and Tom Lindsay. Halfway through the show Mr Richards was attacked by Tom Lindsay with that accursed sledgehammer, right in the surgically repaired knee. This put him out of the match, leaving Will and Danny to take on 3 very dangerous men. It was a brutal 3 on 2 beatdown with Will and Danny taken out of the picture. Mr Richards came out to try and save the day but he was viciously cut down again too. Leaving Marcel and Dominic in the ring to try and stop this. Then in a shocking display at the end of the show Marcel who was seemingly there to help Dominic DeWinter, turned his back on his former friend and hit a low blow and proceeded to work with Tom Lindsay, Isaac Quentin III and Alex Conners to beat up Mr Richards, Danny O’Neil and Will Starr. They’ve taken out our heroes and reigned supreme. Even Caitlyn James had enough and leapt into the ring yelling at Tom “That’s enough!” and slapping some sense into him, before Alex hit struck her down too. Carnage and destruction of all those who stood for what CPW is all about. This was truly our darkest hour and it left the adults shocked and the children in tears, some of us were just down right angry. Myself included, in the horror that such a thing could happen. Betrayals happen in wrestling all the time but this was something else, and it brought the company to its knees. We had only one hope left and that was to come at History 5.

Now for some Honourable mentions

A: Sir Isaac cashes in

At the Nick Aldis Supershow Will Starr was challenged by Seth Skyline for his Nextgen Title that he’d won from Dan Evans at the Xmas Bash. Will hadn’t had the belt long and it was his first defence. After a tough match he managed to get the win, but in anger Seth knocked Will out and stormed off. Then the Mozart music hit and out walked Sir Isaac Quentin III with the Golden Ticket brief case. He covered the prone Will and claimed the Nextgen Championship. The shock to this one was how unsportsmanlike this move was on behalf of Isaac, but proclaiming his intelligence, he said he just picked the perfect spot. He had a chance to get the title and he didn’t have to get his hands dirty. This ignited the blood feud between Isaac and Will that lasted throughout the summer. Will set his sights on different things, while Isaac is still trying to get his footing after losing that Nextgen title.

B: Bob Bashby turns on his brother

Throughout the first half of the year, Bashby and Bob’s relationship was questionable. Bob seemingly being ordered around by his younger brother. Bashby getting louder and angrier each time something happened. It all came to a head at History when in the infamous 6 man Tag match Bob held up Morris to be hit with the Superkick. Morris ducked out and Bob ate the superkick. Bashby was there in disbelief. Then in shock Bashby tried to help his brother up, but in a burst of rage, Bob hit Bashby with the cutter (that he called the B.O.B.) and left his partners. Bashby was out. Bob had gone and this left Shaun Ruben at the mercy of Morris, George and Kieran Young. Morris disposed of Shaun and the match was over. Afterwards Bob seemingly had remorse for what he did as he grew withdrawn and they faced off at the Summer Fun Day and Bob didn’t really want any part of Bashby, who had become even more embittered. He got the pin over Bob after hooking the ropes and that was the last time we saw Bob in a CPW ring. I guess he didn’t want it to escalate anymore and cause more damage.

C: Frankie Summers takes a stand at the Xmas Bash.

I’ll keep this short out of modesty, not to push myself out there, but I still am in shock that I did this, as were the fans. I wrote about this on the Bash blog in way more detail. In short Morris and Shaun Ruben were due to wrestle over the Godiva championship. Morris was sidelined due to recovering from emergency foot surgery. Shaun didn’t like this and proceeded to beat Morris with his own crutch, which resulted in myself running out from the back to stop this assault. Shaun still in the mood for a fight challenged me, and to not disappoint fans, and to defend a friend’s honour I accepted. The match was a 5 minute brawl. I got beat up by Shaun but he couldn’t put me down for 3, so he got frustrated and whacked me with a crutch, DQ’ing himself. The crowd reaction was immense and even CPW management gave it the OMG moment of the show in the breakdown online after. It was a rush to say the least, and a good feeling to help a friend in need.

D: Morris feats of strength

Morris has evolved over the last year for sure, and there’s 2 isolated happenings I have to mention that I didn’t bring up in the best moments list. Those both being huge feats of strength. The first one was at Summer Fun Day where he wrestled against Big Eli and pulled all 260lbs him up for the Samoan Drop and planted him for the win. The next was what cemented his place in CPW lore. In the match against Simms and Mafia, he Samoan dropped both men at the same time, which had to total to around 320lbs+ which he powered down to the mat. This was amazing to see, and you can see Morris putting staking his claim as CPW’s next power man.

E: Daleplex

This deserves a special mention as Dale does so much for us at CPW and he has been involved in a lot of the ones I’ve mentioned on both of my lists. The main standout however was when Tom Lindsay tried his luck picking on Dale, and he wasn’t taking any of it. At Summerfest 3 after Tom beat Jake Casanova to reach the semis of the Galaxy tournament, he wouldn’t let go of the submission and Dale had to force Tom off. Tom got up in his face and shoved him. In retaliation Dale hooked Tom up and hit him with a Suplex, to which the crowd exploded with cheers and rightly so. Still seems Tom never learns his lesson.

And my most shocking moment of 2018 is.

1. The Beast wins the CPW Championship at Betrayal

Mr Richards was CPW champion going into Betrayal and had defended the belt against all comers in that massive 6 man match at Get the Strap. However it was known since Media day that Beast wanted back into CPW and wanted that CPW belt. He came to the event at the Oasis, caused a bunch of trouble and left. The challenge was laid down and Mr Richards said he may not deserve it, but he would accept, just to prove a point, and to show there was no messing around here, the match would be no DQ. Betrayal came and it got to the main event. It was manic, attacks with chairs, pictures and even a baseball bat. It was all going well until Beast got the upper hand and he called the Merseyside Murder Squad from the back to help. The rest was just a beatdown. Beast, Evans and Oberman all worked on Mr Richards, all during the match which was completely legal as this was no DQ and Dale was powerless to stop it. Natalie Wild was there as well and she also was shoved aside and turned on by her best friends. Victoria Adams dashed down seemingly to help out Mr Richards, but instead she slapped Him and helped the MMS and Beast out. Then Beast locked in the submission, forcing Mr Richards to tap out and lose the title. The first man to make him do so. They dragged Super fan Paul Tucker into this as well. The bet was that if Beast won, Paul would become Beast’s follower, and would have to wear a dress, which Beast provided himself. After the fact, Paul was pulled into the ring to collect his ‘prize’ and after being verbally berated by Beast, the MMS started laying into Paul, leaving him prone on the crowd as Beast gloated. CPW Management and myself dashed to ringside to check on Mr Richards and Natalie. It was a sorry state of affairs that shouldn’t have happened, and it angered the audience no end, even the Superstars trainees in attendance stood up and pointed their disgust at the Beast and his band of flunkies. Seemingly Victoria and MMS regretted their actions but regardless Beast was Champion. Since then the issue has been resolved and Will Starr retired Beast at the Xmas Bash, but Victoria is still acting cruelly, and it’s made that belt stay around her waist, and the MMS are still dominant. 2019 is here and only time shall tell.

I hope you enjoyed this list and I’m going to document more as they come. For now, this is Frankie Summers Signing off, we shall see you all at Warfare!