We are days away from an event twenty years in the making: BWN's PAY PER VIEW debut spectacular, and it will absolutely be an affair to remember. I'll be taking a quick look at some of the stars of BWN and some of the announced matches, but if nine years in the world of professional wrestling taught me anything, it's to always expect the unexpected! You can guarantee that you will see, hear, and experience more than you could ever imagine, but ONLY if you order the Anniversary Armageddon livestream PPV!
BLK RHINO vs. CHRIS STYLES
If you were desperately in need of a win to prove to yourself and your peers that you belonged, that you could hang, that you had what it takes to survive...Blk Rhino would be the last person you'd want to find yourself up against; just ask Brandon Karson.
Yet, that's exactly what Chris Styles has done. That's right...it was HIS choice. The young lion has called out the king of the jungle, the beast too bad for the already-lawless rings of the pro wrestling circuit: Blk Rhino, the nastiest, most miserable creature I have ever seen.
You'd think Chris would have to have a game plan before making such a rash decision, but with his win-loss record, I'm not sure if anything short of a sawed-off double barrel will get the job done. If this was a movie, the underdog would claw his way up from the bottom of the totem pole and dethrone the hated king...but this isn't a movie, and take it from me, not everyone gets a happy ending – whether they deserve one or not.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Sgt. English
Sgt. English in one word? CREDIBLE. Credibility goes a long way in a fight – when you believe in yourself, others will believe. If you don't respect yourself; why would your opponents? Sgt. English has always commanded respect....but there are always those in life who refuse to show respect and refuse to acknowledge credibility, perhaps because they have none themselves, or perhaps because they just get off on treating others like garbage.
Sgt. English is caught up in the middle of one of those situations, and all around him? The Freak Show, the choking black cloud looming over all of BWN. English is in the unenviable position of not only trying to resist The Freak Show's mission of total penetration, but to make a mark of his own, with his sights on Tiger, who just barely avoided defeat the last time the two met.
But it won't be that easy as lining up his sights and taking the shot. If he wants to play, it'll be by The Freak Show's rules, and the rules – and the numbers – just happen to be in their favor. With the inmates quite literally running the asylum, English may be on a suicide mission, because to get what he wants, he'll be at war with himself. His credibility and his very clothing stripped away, his manhood baptized in the oil of the Freak Show where he will wallow and toil as their “Big Booty Oil Wrestler” until TFS is satisfied...and then, and only then will Sgt. English have a shot at what HE wants.
PUNISHER vs. X-TERMINATOR
BWN vs The Freak Show. What's in a name? Here we have three that are self explanatory. Punisher. Freak Show. X-Terminator. You know who and what they are, what they do. Punisher is in the position to prove himself – a position he has been in before, but before...he failed.
X-Terminator thrives on failure and doubt, feeding on shame and fear. A hated and insane individual – yet at the core a SUCCESS – holding several belts at once. The Living Pandemic, The Freak Show, continues to seep into the pores of BWN, an infection seeking a host.
Can Punisher be the start of the resistance, the first step to a cure? X-Terminator's undefeated streak says no, but the fans I've spoken to regarding the event are firmly behind Punisher, knowing just what this win could do both to advance his career and hurt the Freak Show. As the resident Outsider of BWN, I'll side with those who have been places I'll not go.
NUBIUS vs SNAKE
Comebacks are a funny thing. Outside of a championship match, I can't think of a situation with higher expectations and greater chances for disaster than a return. The pressure is immense; the pressure to perform at – or higher – the level you were last seen at. It has been around ten long years since Nubius has been seen in BWN. Long time fans will surely know what he is capable of and will be hungry to see what his return has in store. But will Nubius be ready? Has he kept himself in seducing shape? Does he still have the fire to erotically dominate his smaller opponent? Snake will find out firsthand.
Maybe you've heard the expression “lower than a snake's belly”; Snake couldn't fall much further than he has already. He's been beat down lower than low, and now has the unknown to deal with that are Nubius' desires in 2020. Another loss for Snake would do perhaps irreparable damage to the man and his career, so you've got to think he'll be willing to do ANYTHING to win...but Nubius? I don't think he waited ten years to come back and go down in defeat.
At the other end of the spectrum, literally, is Renegade. Fans should know he is Snake's brother – the little brother, at that. But it's a new day, and Renegade is all grown up and unwilling to stay in Snake's rapidly fading shadow.
How ironic, then, that Snake has found himself in the subservient role in the family, being a part of Candyman's Crew. We all know that Candyman is on a never ending hunt to add more “Trophy Boys” to his collection, you've got to assume that it'd be a feather in his cap to claim Renegade alongside his brother Snake. With Akecheta, Que, Jack Flash and Romeo under his command, Candyman has the numbers advantage if he chooses to use it, and as was pointed out in the BWN web chat last night, Renegade will need to keep his eyes open as Candyman usually doesn't approach his enemies head on.
I was able to get a quick quote from Renegade regarding the matchup, and that was “You tell Candyman I heard he was the guy to beat!! And I’m the last person he wants to cross!! Out with the old in with the new!”
Renegade is on a mission, and I like his confidence.
Danger's Pick: RENEGADE
BWN Legend Storm: Cubano and Achilles
Next up, I won't be making a prediction or approaching this as a traditional match, but Cubano and Achilles have both found themselves on Storm's bad side – a place no one wants to be.
The legendary Storm's ire has been raised due to Cubano and Achilles' repeated failure to dismantle The Freak Show. Yet, this won't be a beating just for the sake of it... did your parents ever tell you they “weren't mad, just disappointed”? That was bad enough, right? Now imagine instead of your parents...it's Storm.
Storm's goal here has to be to get that disappointment across, and have it sink in to Achilles and Cubano's respective skulls that he is not the one to disappoint. It's no overstatement that The Freak Show MUST be stopped, and soon...a head to head encounter with Storm may be the fire needed to forge the weapons to do just that.
BRANDON KARSON vs GARY LAVARD
Two men who are no strangers to each other – having already made names for themselves on web series with one another – and their fans have been waiting to see them in a scene together ever since...but this isn't a movie set, this is the gritty, real world of BWN. No stuntmen, no second takes, no director to yell “CUT!” if something goes wrong, and no co-stars to save a scene.
Both men have built up their own brands with Brandon creating Karson Ko and Gary creating GLOMEDIA and have continued forging paths in multiple fields of entertainment of course including wrestling, but after this match only one will be able to truly refer to himself as The King of Every Fucking Thing.
Having had a face to face conversation with Brandon, I'm convinced he's taking BWN seriously and understands the risks and rewards involved. He's endured being brutalized by Blk Rhino on more than one occasion, and that tells me he's got what it takes to not only survive in BWN – but thrive.
Danger's Pick: BRANDON KARSON
This is where things get a little too explicit for me, in a contest that could ONLY happen in BWN, for these two to finish the fight they started, they will be COMPLETELY stripped. Full nudity, man against man, manhood...against manhood.
Trouble had Tiger right where he wanted him, but it was not to be. Yet. This one is loaded with explosive potential, in more ways than one. Tiger was one of the last defections to The Freak Show, and defeating him would send a HUGE signal. Trouble may have the best shot at doing just that; but the stipulations of the match just cannot be ignored. Tiger may be more comfortable in his skin – and nothing else – after what's happened in his recent past. He jumped ship to The Freak Show after a hard loss to Stitch, and an even harder domination session at the hands of Zulu...Trouble may not know just what he's walking into.
SPOTLIGHT ON: CAIN, FETISH, and CHINO
I don't have much information on this situation – and something tells me that may be the point – I've only been told that Cain will appear in some capacity. Fans may remember Cain being the very first victim of the twisted Fetish, and after a loss to Chino he was banished from BWN entirely.
Now that he's back, where will he fit in? BWN, Freak Show, or something else entirely!?
Speaking of “Something Else Entirely”, that brings us back to Fetish. The Prince of Perversion, the Sultan of Sadism, the Czar of the Bizarre....will his path cross with Cain's again? Fetish is looking to top everyone in his way...and we know what happened last time these two got together....
And now we're here. Stitch vs Ghost; The Freak Show Vs Stahr Power. The trained competitors of Stahr Power have long sought to claim BWN “for it's own good”, to save it from it's enemies and itself....and if BWN ever NEEDED saving, it's now. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and The Freak Show has no friends!
Ghost, the Cleaner, the Professional, may be the last, best chance to cut the head off of The Freak Show before the monster swallows up every last drop of BWN. And there's a chance to do that. Ghost can beat virtually ANYONE...but who does Stitch compare to? He has no equal. The Kingpin of the Freak Show, dripping with gold, the highly decorated Stitch controls his opponents like no one else, and the one taste he doesn't recognize is that of defeat.
Will BWN find themselves safe in the hands of “professionals”? Will the Freak Show pervert everything BWN is, destroy it and reshape it as their own gruesome trophy? Will the twentieth anniversary truly BE Armageddon, will BWN survive to 21!? Everything may just ride on this....and with that I make my pick....