Why TMDK vs The Solution is Best for Business.

WCW vs the NWO
Austin vs McMahon

Arguably the two greatest storylines in professional wrestling history… but why? It’s really quite simple, they both had a compelling cast of characters telling their stories within an atmosphere of volatility that seemed like it could explode at any given moment. These ingredients combined to capture the imaginations of hardcore and casual fans alike, making them emotionally invested in what they were seeing and leaving them on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what was going to happen next. And in doing so changed the fortunes of WCW and WWE respectively and ushered in the biggest boom period pro wrestling has ever seen.

You may be asking “What’s your point Dude? What does all this have to do with anything?” Well I’m gonna tell you but first we have to go back to the first Explosive Pro Wrestling Perth show of 2016 the Great Aussie Bash. (for a full recap of the event head to http://drawingheat.podomatic.com)

[cue Scooby-Doo dream gimmick]

Rookie sensation Logan Grey made his way to the ring to cut a promo, fresh off winning both the 2015 Rising Star Cup and EPW Invitational Tournament. The latter of which guarantees a shot at the EPW Title whenever he chooses. It was speculated that Logan would address this during said promo but that was not the case. Logan stated that while he had been mentored by TMDK’s Shane Haste for the past 6 months he was not an official member of TMDK, but that was about to change as TMDK had extended an invitation to become their “rookie”.

This brought out The Solution led by “The Messiah” Davis Storm who entered the ring with what seemed like evil intentions as they had Logan Grey outnumbered. Storm though had other plans as he grabbed the stick and proceeded to cut a promo of his own aimed squarely at young Logan.

I’m going to paraphrase here but basically Storm told Logan that the only reason he was offered membership into TMDK (as their rookie no less) was because the current EPW Champion Marcius Pitt represents TMDK and they were afraid that Logan would take the title from them. He also said that Logan Grey would be nothing but TMDK’s official “bitch” and went on to offer him a spot in The Solution instead.

Now this is where things really get interesting dear readers as out come TMDK and as soon as they hit the ring THE SHIT WAS ON!! If you look up the definition of a Pier 6 brawl in the dictionary you would just find a picture of the absolute chaos that erupted here. (go ahead I’ll wait.)

See, I told you didn’t I?

This wasn’t just your stock standard kickass brawl though as something special was happening here. It was one of those wrestling “moments”. The intensity on display generated an electricity in the arena very rarely seen in professional wrestling. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end and my arms were covered in goosebumps.

Now I thought that it was just me but when I turned around I found the usually quiet EPW fans (they’re a loyal bunch but lately they’ve seemed hard to impress) marking out just as much as I was. It was truly “wrestle magic” as 300 people collectively lost their minds!

To get a better picture of why this seemingly innocuous angle had such a profound affect on people we need to look a little closer at each stable.

TMDK

Members:
Shane Haste
Mikey Nicholls
Marcius Pitt
Jonah Rock
“JAG” Hartley Jackson
Elliot Sexton
Slex
Logan Grey (unofficial as of this writing)

These guys are an EPW institution made up of homegrown (Haste, Nicholls & Pitt) and interstate talent, they are considered the best of the best in Australian pro wrestling. The ultimate babyfaces and wrestling royalty. If you’re a member of TMDK you are basically a made man. Notorious not only in Australia but around the world, TMDK have earned every accolade that has been bestowed upon them.

The Solution

Members:
“The Messiah” Davis Storm
The Warship
AZ Vegara
Liam Mendel
Amity Row

Led by Davis Storm (EPW founder and legend of Australian wrestling in his own right) and The Warship, (the conscience of the group) The Solution have made the destruction of Explosive Pro Wrestling their ultimate goal. They feel that the EPW locker room has become full of lazy, self-entitled wrestlers who are tarnishing the legacy that past champions like Davis Storm built in EPW.

So in one corner we have The Solution, who want nothing more than to decimate EPW by tearing it down piece by piece from within. And in the opposite corner standing in their way, the golden boys of Australian wrestling and the embodiment of all that EPW stands for – TMDK. The storylines pretty much write themselves here.

Honestly we don’t know exactly what EPW has planned with regards to this feud in the long term but going by the Road Warrior like pop the brawl got at Great Aussie Bash, they might want to drag this out for as long as they can.

EPW seem to be on the ball as they have recently announced that the main event of their next show GoldRush which takes place March 12th (get your tickets from http://www.epwperth.com) will be Davis Storm vs Marcius Pitt for the EPW Title.

This is an excellent sign for this feud as The Solution need to focus their attention on capturing EPW gold in order to further their narrative. That the champion is a TMDK member and possibly EPW’s biggest babyface to boot is just icing on the cake. Having this match is a brilliant idea by the EPW Creative Team.

How then does all this tie in to what I was talking about at the start of this blog? I’ll tell you.

If EPW can extend the rivalry between TMDK and The Solution for a number of months at least with creative booking and exciting angles in a slow burn if you will, culminating with a huge payoff at one of the bigger EPW events (I’m hoping ReAwakening but fussy I am not.) they would capture the imaginations of the EPW faithful who, after each part of the story unfolds would be emotionally invested and be left wanting more.

In turn they will surely tell their friends about this can’t miss wrestling storyline, who will then come and see it for themselves and afterwards end up telling their friends about it, who then do the same and tell their friends etc etc, until not only are the diehard wrestling fans attending the shows but the word of mouth has piqued the interest of the casual fan also, which going by what Nate Dooley told us last year is EPW’s current aim. (attract the casual fans and grow the company)

Take it from me the battle lines have already been drawn in this war between those fans who support TMDK and those who are firmly behind The Solution. The time is now for EPW to capitalize on this.

Flood the merch stand with TMDK AND Solution merchandise so the fans can show where their loyalties lie. It will have a profound effect on the atmosphere inside Bodyslam Central and not only for the the TMDK/Solution segments but the energy will be felt throughout the entire show.

Dedicate as much time and resources as possible to produce video packages, promos and internet advertising in order to promote the shit out of these two factions. You’ve got some incredible talkers on these teams so let them loose.

EPW must strike while the iron is hot and ride the wave of momentum generated at the Bash as far as they can go because while maybe not on the same worldwide scale as WCW vs the NWO or Austin vs McMahon, TMDK vs The Solution could be the company defining moment in the storied history of Explosive Pro Wrestling Perth.

Now as you can probably tell I feel very passionately about this feud and believe it can be the hottest thing ever seen in Australian pro wrestling. If you feel the same as I do or just want to voice your thoughts about it feel free to leave a comment.

– The Dude –

The Crash Of The Titus?

What else is there to be said about WWE’s suspension of Titus O’Neil for unprofessional conduct that hasn’t already been written about everywhere? Everyone seems to agree on the following points…

• A 60 day suspension is over reacting
• Titus probably chose the wrong time to muck around with Vince
• Vince is a grumpy old man

Did there really need to be a suspension at all? If Vince does want to crack down on unprofessional conduct, why does the public need to know about it? In no way did Titus supposedly playfully grabbing Vince effect them. If he wanted to send a message to the talent that it wouldn’t be tolerated, then fining him behind closed doors would’ve been sufficient. The boys would’ve still got the message. First it was reported to be a 90 day suspension, which was then down graded to 60 days, meaning Titus will still miss Wrestlemania in Dallas.

Wrestlemania

When the WWE goodwill machine goes into full overdrive mode.

What does WWE plan on achieving by keeping their most popular goodwill ambassador out of Texas?

And no, I’m not talking about John Cena. I said “popular”. The kids love John Cena, but everyone loves Titus. Sure, John Cena is the most successful celebrity to work with Make A Wish, but what else does he do? Do we ever see Cena out at the Be A Star events? Titus does so much more for the community than anyone else on the roster. He feeds the homeless out of his own pocket and has a Dad Of The Year award for fucks sake!

Now granted that Titus isn’t without blame here. He chose a bad time to grab Vince with all the emotions of Bryan Danielson’s retirement running high and the cameras rolling, but what prompted him to do it? It’s unlikely that everyone standing on that stage was in a happy mood, so anything thought to be “playful” would cause the ire of VKM, but what if Titus grabbed him in a serious way? Is it possible that VKM said something when he passed by Titus that he didn’t approve of? Again, not the ideal time to confront the boss about it though.

But what does this mean for the push Titus started getting over the last few weeks. WWE has seemingly come to their senses and realized that they should probably make a big deal out of this guy who can work as well as being a great public ambassador for the company. I’d say he could be the next John Cena for WWE, but he’s only 6 days younger than him. WWE do have a tendency for sticking people onto Main Event and Superstars when they return from suspensions, but if WWE officials are as high on Titus, as it seems, we may be lucky. WWE have had a tendancy for making some stupid booking decisions over the last few years though. No matter what happens, I have no doubt that he will bounce back from this though.

Maybe Vince needs a reminder of what something unprofessional looks like?

– Beej –

Coming to you LIVE! from Drawing Heat Studios

Hello and welcome to the Drawing Heat Podcast blog. If you are a listener of the show already, well, you can skip the next paragraph if you like.

We produce a little podcast, coming out of Perth, Australia about what we love most in the world, professional wrestling. We feature live event recaps and interviews from within the Australian wrestling scene as well as recaps from international pay per views. You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher and PodOmatic at www.drawingheat.podomatic.com

Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s introduce ourselves.

Beej = The younger, shorter one (who doesn’t look like anyone in particular)
The Dude  = The older, taller one (who looks like Kevin Owens)

Easy to remember, right?

Anyway, the reason we have decided to start this blog… Almost every day, we are messaging back and forth to each other with ideas for show topics, creative/booking thoughts, rants and our thoughts about what is happening in the world of wrestling in general. Not all of those ideas can make it onto an episode, be it because we aren’t recording that week (We live over an hours drive from each other, give us a break) or they may not fit in with what we had planned already. So this allows us to spread our thoughts and musings with our listeners and friends in the business.

So why not subscribe/follow (not sure how this thing fully works yet), leave a comment, tell us what you think and hopefully we’ll see you at a live event somewhere.

– Beej & The Dude –