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Back with another recap. With more time, less stress (well, for a short period of time), and a card that turned out much, much better than it looked on paper. I'm not much for overhyped openings, I leave that for the Insider, so I'll just get to it and bore you at the end instead.

Match One: Tony Bravo w/ Infinity vs T-Bone w/ slow improvement
Two weeks ago this match would have been a total stomp. Now, after rededicating himself he's shown a REMARKABLE improvement. I'm starting to dig him. He was surprising the hell out of Bravo. In fact, he was in control until Infinity came over and caused an accident or two. That's all it took as the momentum came crashing. I stood at the signal. Clapped my hands, and checked off another win for Bravo.
Winner: Tony Bravo via standing ovation Rating: **1/2 It wasn't all that bad. It was actually a good way to start the card.

Match Two: Diablo w/ an arena full of yawns vs Mike Marvelous w/ an arena full of milk cartons
Marvelous tried his best. He started off with a little juice. Then Diablo took over. He showed he why he was a badass in the past, though he did do this against inferior competition. Personally, I thought Diablo killed him. I'm not a big fan of either, but at least Marvelous probably won't be back for a long, loooooong while. Diablo on the other hand? Biting off wayyyyyy more than he can chew right now with Blue Phoenix.
Winner: Diablo via his new finisher Rating: ** the match was nothing special, but at least it didn't suck. Then Diablo literally tried to kill the poor northern (and untrustful) Habitant de Canadien.

Match Three: "Chicken Krap" Seth Gavin vs Yeehaw David Stallion
We get a guy who you KNOW I don't care much about against a guy I want to like, yeehaw, I want to but he's too quiet for too long. Come on Stallion! Get your act together! Start working with Rufus Knight, you can be the Culture Clashers! Haha okay I'll leave the jokes to the Mark. But darn it Stallion get your head together here. Leave the farm to Maryanne or something. RCW wants more of you. That way I don't have to deal with seeing Chicken Krap getting another win.
Winner: Chicken Krap via something that made me cringe again. Rating: *1/2 Come on, you expected four stars? Geez the guy I can't stand goes over against a guy that is working hard to stay quiet. Forget that.

Main Event: "Wolverine" Chad Wilson vs Vic Payback for the U.S. Title
This was great. Back and forth it went. Wilson and Payback were pretty evenly matched most of the way through. For every move Wilson had, Payback had one for him. For every counter was another counter. Just as Wilson was about to gain a big head of steam, wham!, he slipped right over the ropes. Oh wait, he didn't slip, Tommy Silver helped him over. Either way, it caused a whole lot of problems from there. While the ref was admonishing Silver, Payback took advantage and was able to lock in the Stroke of Luck to "earn" the win.
Winner: Vic Payback via a HUGE Stroke of LUCK. Rating: *** This was a quality match between two guys who don't share much love. In the end, Silver got in the way dropping it a half star but in the end it was still solid. And trust me, Silver and Payback are NOT in cahoots. They like each other as much as they do Wilson.

Like I said, this card turned out much better than it looked on paper. Fury looks great for this week too. Now if only things could get heavy on the message board and feuds start going.

What Worked
-- Last Fury. Hell, we got a U.S. Champ, a new N.A. Champ, the return of the Invader, and the first "loss" by Rob Holliday.
-- Payback running as U.S. Champ again. He always looks good in gold.

What Didn't
-- Wilson jobbing out. He's better than this. I swear. And he held the NA Title for a week? Now I'll go on record as saying that I thought Wilson would have beaten him at Superclash. But he didn't. Was it a fluke? I doubt it. Reality says they're both at the same level. If they wrestled ten times, I bet each would win five. This has the makings of a GREAT feud. But right now Wilson doesn't look nearly as good as he really is. He's a World Title contender, no matter what anyone says.
-- The quiet message boards. Jeez, you don't need a big splash to start a feud. Just get on the board, talk your talk, run them down, and get it on! I'm sick of seeing Hall put together matches just so we can have a card.
-- The quiet tag division. Sure, High Risk is the best. But we have four tag teams (and we need MOOOORE) guys. Lets get this division going. I remember the good ole days when we had Strictly Business, the Wonders, the Commission, all those guys. Now???? Nothing. Sigh.
-- All my favorite faces staying quiet. I want to see LOTS of the Sandman. He's NTJesque! I swear! THE MAN! And Rufus Knight is right there too. If it weren't for Sandman, I think HE would be THE MAN. He's a rememberance of Kieran Hawke, only cooler in my book. All old fashioned and such. But cooler. And if he really was messing with some lucky Duchess, hehe, whoo boy! Until next time, I am the Shooter and so it is written.

---The Shoot Writer

---The Insider

The Palace was on fire and ready to go for the first match of the night as Chad Wilson took on Tommy Silver. I've seen both of these men wrestler before: Wilson was just getting started as RCW closed, but I had seen flashes of brilliance in Tommy Silver in Ground Zero Wrestling. Still, though, Wilson has improved in leaps and bounds since re-starting and it showed in this match... but look for Silver to come right after Wilson as the month progresses.

There was almost too much ego for the ring to contain in the second match of the night; Adam Adonis would have been proud of the way Rob Holiday and Blue Phoenix postured before their semifinal encounter. Nobody in RCW can cut a heel promo like Rob Holiday right now, and though I think he's much too cocky for his own good, he has put up the two best RCW matches so far. Holiday was the better man in this one.

Two men I'm quite familiar with are Kerry Carter and Johnny Lee, and they impressed once more in a Top Rope match where the crowd was firmly behind Lee all the way. Carter is a punk... always has been, always will be... and his little crowd salute won't soon be forgotten. However, he has been on fire since re-joining RCW, and his win here.. however tainted by numerous counts of cheating... does continue his dominance over the cruiserweights. Had this not been a Top Rope Match, though, Carter would surely have been DQed for his antics... and good riddance, I say.

The next match was something of a snoozer after the electric cruiserweight battle, as David Stallion made short work of Irons. Irons, like some others in RCW that I've already reprimanded, has a lot of work to do; and may I make the point clear that I absolutely hate assigning failing grades. I'm not here to "run anybody out of RCW", as I've been unfairly accused of... rather, I'm attempting to raise RCW quality levels so that talented youngsters like Stallion here aren't disserviced by poor competition. I've written a piece of literature for all students who are borderline; it's called the Ace's Campus Guide and is available on request from the Executive Board. Learn it, love it, and the best part is that it's free (which I can't promise about future academic journals! Salaries are getting tight these days, you know).

Both the Nighthawks and Menace to Society are promising young tag teams, but honestly, a Thunderdome match? Thunderdomes have housed some of RCW's greatest matches and this one was most definitely not up to par. The tag division needs a challenge so that these two teams can elevate their games, and right now, they don't have that sort of competition. A halfway-decent match, won by the better team.

After a two-match lull, the action picked up again with a vicious Strap Match between Seth Gavin and Tony Bravo. No love was lost between these two, and it certainly showed, though I have to say that the crowd was slightly more behind Gavin in a match where mostly they just wanted to see how much damage the two pretty boys could inflict on one another. Gavin's got potential that he's starting to realize, but Bravo has the experience, and in a match like this that's where it really counts.

The next match of the night gave new RCW fans a little taste of one of RCW's signature matches as Rufus Knight took on Vic Payback in an Iron Will match. Payback is something of an enigma; throughout his RCW career he has been very good for short periods of time but then tends to falter. Rufus Knight, on the other hand, has been consistently improving since making his debut, pulling off a big upset victory over BP and David Stallion the other week. The X-factor in this match was of course the return of the Invader, who was just hitting his stride when RCW closed and has the potential to be the big-name veteran that RCW could really use right now (and let's be honest; who actually thought he was going to retire for good a couple of weeks back?) High Risk reunited and it spelt nothing but trouble for Rufus Knight, who surely has a few bones to pick with the two.

Gold was on the line in the night's main event, and though both men were guaranteed to walk out with a strap, everybody knew that the only thing that mattered to Rob Holiday and Chad Wilson was the RCW World Title. Between the two of these wrestlers, the technical skill displayed was enormous and way beyond their years; seeing Holiday operate in the ring was like watching a young Executive and the comparison is well-deserved. RCW's newest World Champion is Holiday, and I'd be stunned if he didn't coin a new nickname for the occasion (bleh). As much as I would've loved to see the grit of Wilson prevail, Holiday was untouchable tonight.

So, now, the important question... what happens from here?

There are a few men who have the chance to gun for Holiday's World Title. I'd be surprised if Tommy Silver didn't make a run at it... but after that, it'll be a wide-open race for the belt.

As for the North American Title, Chad Wilson is going to have to beat back a few comers before he can look for his rematch with Holiday (even though he *is* the automatic #1 contender). Look for Kata Yoshikawa, Blue Phoenix, Vic Payback, and perhaps David Stallion to make a run at the belt.

Of course, the United States Title will also be up for grabs soon, and since most of the roster will be eligible, we could see a few good fights for that belt. The Cruiserweight division is just now adding a few names; sources tell me that we should have a champion by the end of next month's Battle Supreme (or so I hope!) The tag division has been quiet, but again, I wouldn't be shocked if we saw a few more names added (specifically, High Risk might be able to blow everyone away if the two of them can put their egos aside and not focus on individual glory).

But then again... these are all just suppositions. RCW is back in business, and everything is very much up in the air right now... but given some time, things could be settling down for some very hot feuds.

That's all from SuperClash... I'll see you next month at Battle Supreme! Until then,

Academically yours,

---The Ace