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Beach Club Pro “Whirlpool Title Tournament Night 2” September 6th, 2000 Live from Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada Beach Club Pro returned for Night 2 of the Whirlpool Title Tournament, their final show in the Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino for a little while. Up until now, all 5 of their shows had been given mostly rave reviews from the live crowds, though not completely devoid of controversy. The crowd, lively as always, opened up the show on cue chanting their typical BCP BCP BCP before the lights dimmed and we moved straight away into our first of ten matches for the evening! Match 1: Ricky Marvin (Mexico) Vs. Ultimo Dragon (Japan) Sea Bracket Second Round With the lights still dimmed, the crowd is awakened to the Mariachi stylings of “El son de la negra”, popping many who were in attendance the night before for the arrival of the young Ricky Marvin. Fresh off his upset win over the bigger Ultimo Guerrero in the first round, Ricky walks to the ring with trepidation but excitement as he looks to extend his good fortune against a veritable ring legend. The crowd isn’t left waiting long before the sounds of Luis Miguel’s “Separados” comes through to them, which can only mean one thing - and right on time, out comes Ultimo Dragon in gear that is mostly red, with a cape featuring multiple shades. The crowd erupts at the sight of the Japanese and WCW legend and he walks down the ring, before disrobing in the ring. The match is a bit of a mess, all things considered. Not wanting to be taken to the mat, despite his attempts, Ricky Marvin tries to use his speed against Ultimo Dragon, but Dragon doesn’t seem to be able to follow and the two don’t click very well. We do get some hot moments, including a springboard spinning tornillo from Marvin onto a standing Dragon in the ring, as well as Dragon reversing a headscissors attempt into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but overall - the cool moments don’t add up to a spectacular match. Throughout, you can sense that Dragon seems a little annoyed with the pesky Marvin, and even shows some uncharacteristic aggression, going overboard with 4 consecutive dragon screws, followed by a tiger suplex for 2. The match ends with Dragon catching Marvin on a springboard hurricanrana attempt and hitting a running Dragon Bomb for the 3. Marvin put up a fight, but his story ends here, and Ultimo Dragon moves onto the block finals! Winner: Ultimo Dragon Match 2: Ace Steel (USA) Vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (Japan) Sand Bracket Second Round In what can be easily considered the match of the tournament so far and an early contender for best Beach Club Pro match, period - Ace Steel and Masaaki Mochizuki went to absolute war in a match that very nearly took the entirety of the 20-minute time limit. Both men, who operate who chips on their shoulder and a determination to prove their toughness at all times never held back, causing welts on the others body and both getting busted open hardway to minimal bleeding. Steel, much like his first round match, operated very similar to a Dynamite Kid or Pegaus Kid, not afraid to bust out high flying spots, but using his strength and willpower to just clobber Mochizuki with everything from suplexes, to headbutts to dozens of fists and lariats. Mochizuki dishes out his own assault as well, using his slight speed advantage to duck in and out of the heavy strikes that Steel was throwing and delivering kicks that sounded like whipcracks. Not being a weakling himself, Mochizuki was able to fire off his own high impact offense, perhaps most impressive being a top rope superplex followed by a springboard moonsault for a 2 count. The hits kept coming to the point of exhaustion, and as the match reached the 18-minute point, both men actually collapsed after slapping each other silly. The crowd roared with applause, and as they stood back up, Ace Steel dodged a groggy kick from Mochizuki and hit him with a Steel Kick (backflip kick), knocking Mochizuki to the ground. Steel revved up, looked at the crowd and grabbed Mochizuki before lifting him in the air for an Implant DDT! He hooked the leg and got the three-count just before the time limit! The crowd erupted with applause, as both men lay still on the mat for a few seconds. Steel eventually stood up to get his arm raised by the referee, and as he turned, an angry, but tired and defeated Mochizuki glared at him, before bowing and exiting the ring. Winner: Ace Steel Match 3: The Great Sasuke (Japan) Vs. Rey Bucanero (Mexico) Sun Bracket Second Round The stabbing horns of “Si Senor” by Control Machete signal the return of Los Infernales and out walks the only member of the stable to advance to the second round Rey Bucanero, followed by El Satanico who narrowly lost in the first round. The group added Tarzan Boy to their ranks yesterday, but got themselves disqualified in the process. Bucanero enters the ring to boos as Satanico stands at ringside. The arena goes completely black as a single spotlight lights up the entranceway and “Integral Hard” blasts through the room. From behind the curtain steps none other than The Great Sasuke as the crowd gasps from excitement thinking about him about to wrestle. Sasuke enters the rings and poses, before doing a backflip off the top turnbuckle and disrobing. He ignores Satanico at ringside, but does look between him and Bucanero as the bell rings. The match is worked in a fun, sloppy way with Bucanero bringing his brawling a-game to the forefront, but Sasuke really showing that he is the king when it comes to reckless wrestling. From rope-hung kicks, to dives to the outside, Sasuke lands many high impacts moves on the bigger Bucanero. Bucanero uses his strength to fight back, however, and in classic lucha fashion, even attempts and half-way succeeds in ripping off part of Sasuke’s mask. Sasuke takes a beating and is hobbling around, but Bucanero isn’t much better - however, Sasuke winds up proving to be just a bit too experienced and too quick for Bucanero, reversing an irish whip with a springboard dropkick, and quickly following up with a Senton Atomico from the top rope. Sasuke eventually puts Bucanero away with a Michinoku Driver, and has his hand raised by the ref! Winner: The Great Sasuke Match 4: Michael Modest (USA) Vs. Gedo (Japan) Sea Bracket Second Round In a battle of totally different styles, the barrel-chested Michael Modest brought his power-flyer game to have at it with the slimmed-down Gedo, himself once considered more of a power wrestler. Gedo, as always, was accompanied by Jado, who spent much of the match yelling at Modest, but never going so far as to touch him and get Gedo disqualified. Modest tried to wrestle a clean, technical match, staying on the offensive, but thwarted by much of Gedo’s underhanded tactics that tried to frustrate him. Gedo, the master craftsmen, mixed legit submission holds with backrakes, eye-gouges, flash-pin attempts and even a low blow attempt in an effort to sneak out the win against Modest, but Modest showed resilience, and even though Gedo got cheap shots in, he couldn’t quite break the focus that Modest displayed. Around the 10-minute mark, Modest was able to stop another attempt at a low blow and CLOBBER Gedo with a huge lariat before following up with the Modest Driver for the win! After the pin, Jado stormed the ring and stomped repeatedly on Modest, before helping Gedo to his feet. The two continued to beat him down before Elix Skipper ran out and cleared house with a series of drop kicks and big strikes! Skipper helped Modest to his feet and raised his hand in victory as Modest thanked Skipper and the two headed to the back. Michael Modest moves on to the finals of the Sea Bracket where he will face Ultimo Dragon! Winner: Michael Modest Match 5: Ikuto Hidaka (Japan) Vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Japan) Sand Bracket Second Round In a highly anticipated matchup, the small Ikuto Hidaka faced off against a man who beat him down in the early BCP shows in Tatsuhito Takaiwa. Takaiwa walked down to the ring completely focused, acknowledging that Hidaka put on a good showing the previous evening and giving him props, but looking laser focused. Clad in nondescript black trunks and black boots, he is the polar opposite of Hidaka, with his bigger hair and colorful capri pants. Nevertheless, Hidaka, hoping to get in the good graces of Takaiwa, extends his hand for a handshake as the bell rings, but Takaiwa simply nods at him before backing up. The match starts with a little bit of feeling out, Hidaka getting a fair amount of strikes in that stagger Takaiwa, but never bringing him down. However, a couple of minutes in, something inside Takaiwa snaps and he rushes at Hidaka, clobbering him with palm strikes and forearms, backing him into the ropes, where he unleashes knees to the abdomen, dropping Hidaka onto the mat. Takaiwa doesn’t let him breathe however, and deadlifts him into a HUGE release german suplex. Hidaka is writhing on the ground, but Takaiwa picks him up, as he stands dazed, runs against the ropes and delivers a nasty lariat to Hidaka, and follows with a pin attempt for 2. Hidaka looks near death here, and though Takaiwa lets up a little bit, Hidaka can never get back to it, his wind not coming back to his lungs and disallowing any speed advantage he has. At around the 5-minute mark, Takaiwa has had enough and grabs Takaiwa for a big powerbomb, smashing him into the mat, but then deadlifting him up onto his shoulders, he delivers a death valley driver in the center of the ring and pins him nonchalantly for the 3 count! Takaiwa stands up and bows to Hidaka, before leaving the ring, not even allowing for the referee to raise his hand. Winner: Tatsuhito Takaiwa Match 6: Naomichi Marufuji (Japan) Vs. CIMA (Japan) Sun Bracket Second Round In a matchup of two of Japan’s brightest young stars, and an opportunity to secure the final spot into the Semi-Finals of the tournament, the All Japan trained Naomichi Marufuji took on the Ultimo Dragon trained CIMA. Upon the bell ring, both men circled each other and stared one another down, the crowd aware of their abilities and what they might witnessed, applauded loudly. After about 30 seconds of milking it, the two locked up, with Marufuji getting the early advantage. And this is where the match picked up, and kept up. Going at an insane pace for about 17 minutes, Marufuji and CIMA proved to be two men who were every bit the equal of the other, each of them taking to the sky, abusing the other with strikes and coming up with clever reversal combinations. CIMA showed that his training in Mexico gave him an advantage on the mat and used a handful of moves that focused on Marufuji’s knees, in an attempt to ground and weaken Maru’s strongest assets - and it worked. Unable to kick with the speed he is used to, Marufuji had to be smart about his offense, though an opportunity to land a springboard dropkick on CIMA back-fired as Marufuji’s right knee gave out and he tumbled to the mat. In a spot reminiscent of the classic Jushin Liger/Great Sasuke botch, CIMA immediately seized on the fallen Marufuji and picked him for a snap brainbuster. The two continued to work hard against another, and though he was at a disadvantage, Marufuji showed that he had a warrior’s spirit, refusing to be put away. An attempt at a Shiranui on the turnbuckle was reversed by CIMA with a second rope Backdrop, and he was able to follow up with a Meteora from the top rope to secure the win and match against The Great Sasuke in the finals! Winner: CIMA A brief intermission takes place after this, where it is announced that Beach Club Pro would be taking the next couple of weeks off, with some announcements incoming. They promise to have one more spot show before the October 10th tour in Puerto Rico, but details will be forthcoming. Furthermore, it is announced that fans should be on the lookout for some merch soon, much more than the t-shirts and towels that are already present at the merch booth. It’s announced that Beach Club Pro has secured a deal with a publishing company for the rights to many of the entrance themes the wrestlers use and will be distributing a cd for purchase in your local music store soon! Titled “Take It To The Beach!” the cd will feature 13 entrance themes from Beach Club Pro favorites! Production is also underway of the first BCP DVD set, which will feature all of the first 6 BCP shows on multiple DVDs at an affordable price. Lastly, it has been announced that they’ve also begun reaching a deal with a local card company to make Beach Club Pro trading cards, which will be found in my independent comic shops and baseball card stores around the US. Match 7: Michael Modest (USA) Vs. Ultimo Dragon (Japan) Sea Bracket Final The alienating sounds of “Natural One” by Folk Implosion bleed through the speakers as Michael Modest makes his way out for the biggest challenge of his young career. Having perhaps surprisingly outsmarted and outwilled Gedo earlier in the night, he unfortunately was beaten down after his win and he walked to the ring with a distinct hobble and his ribs taped up. Ultimo Dragon entered second, still garnering a great amount of applause. He wears his usual getup and walks to the ring like a king. Once disrobed, he approaches Modest in the center of the ring and the two shake hands. The match is much better than Ultimo’s previous match, with the two wrestlers much more on the same page here. Despite his obvious pain, Modest proves to be a formidable opponent and shows a lot of grit throughout the match and he tries to use his obvious strength advantage to suplex Dragon a few times, though he consistently has to grab his ribs afterwards. Dragon, despite being older has Modest beat on the speed front, and once that is determined, he uses that to his advantage, unleashing kicking combinations, a dragon screw, and bouncing around the ring with various ways to knock down Modest - each new bump causing the man an extra amount of pain. At one point, Dragon is able to lock in the Dragon Sleeper, and though it appeared as though Modest was about to tap, he fights through after a prolonged struggle and gets his feet under the ropes for a break to huge applause. The experience and health aspect favored Ultimo Dragon a bit too much, however, and around the 14-minute mark he nails in quick succession a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, followed by springboard Asai moonsault, followed by a Cancun Tornado off the top rope onto the fallen Modest for the 3 count. As the bell is rung, Dragon helps Modest to his feet and shakes his hand as Modest bows and walks back to the back. Ultimo Dragon is the first to qualify for the Whirlpool Title match! Winner: Ultimo Dragon Match 8: Ace Steel (USA) Vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Japan) Sand Bracket Final In a battle of the two hardest hitting, most intense members of the early Junior Heavyweight division in Beach Club Pro, the match between Ace Steel and Tatsuhito Takaiwa went about how anyone could have hoped. Steel, having had a potential Match of the Year contender earlier in the night with Masaaki Mochizuki showed a little damage, but never let Takaiwa know, instead trying to out-tough one of the toughest men in wrestling. Takaiwa welcomed the challenge, and though he seemed to finally find someone who could give as well as he could, he still put the pressure on Steel by continually dropping him on his head with suplexes from every angle and a few early Death Valley Drivers. The two went to war throughout the match, trading lariats and continually trying to outdo each other before both collapsed due to exhaustion. Takaiwa, though, being somewhat fresher, having made easier work of his first opponent proved to be the stronger competitor on this night and eventually wore Ace Steel down, despite his attempts at powering up. It wasn’t easy, but at around the 15-minute mark, Steel was finally put away by a double powerbomb from Takaiwa. The crowd roared with applause at the hard-hitting affair, and as Steel exited the ring, he received a standing ovation for his hard work in his two matches. Takaiwa, as his hand was raised, seemed to not care, though he took some damage here, looked calm and cool as always. Winner: Tatsuhito Takaiwa Match 9: The Great Sasuke (Japan) Vs. CIMA (Japan) Sun Bracket Final In the final qualifying match for the Whirlpool Title match, The Great Sasuke looked to make the final all chalk and entirely made up of those with a first-round bye, but the young and impressive CIMA had other plans. The two went at it for about 17-minutes, both using their high-flying prowess to try and outwork the other, and get the crowd really engaged. Sasuke, as typical, was a bit sloppy in his execution, but it paid off, throwing CIMA off his game more than once as he attempted dives and big moves that were unexpected, even if they caused damage to himself in the process. CIMA continued to show some of his lucharesu skills, by mixing it up on the mat with Sasuke and proving he had a slight strength advantage. The match itself was very reminiscent of an early 90’s NJPW juniors match, with distinct sections of mat-based work, high-flying work and high-impact work. Both men took a lot of damage, but the finish came as a surprise as Sasuke set CIMA up for a running powerbomb, but CIMA was able to roll through and get a sunset flip pin for the hard-fought victory! Sasuke looked shocked, thinking he had the match in the bag, but CIMA screamed with joy as he advanced to the final. Sasuke shook his hand and headed to the back as CIMA bowed to the crowd and smiled with a sense of shock on his face. Winner: CIMA Another brief break takes place before the final, as out walks “Exotic” Adrian Street and Masa Saito with the Whirlpool Junior Heavyweight Title belt in hands. The two men enter the ring and hold it up to the crowd. The belt sits on orange leather and is a bit smaller than the Beyond the Sea title. The flags of the USA, Japan and Puerto Rico are evident on the face of the belt, and it is still dipped in gold. Street puts over the tournament so far and hypes the crowd for the all Japanese final. He says that the crowd will see more of these competitors in the future, and the title itself will be a very important and often defended championship - so whichever of these 3 men win, they better be prepared to work to keep their place on top. Street praises Saito for his work in securing much of the talent and states that the final will be an elimination match before the two leave to ringside in anticipation of the match. Main Event: CIMA (Japan) Vs. Ultimo Dragon (Japan) Vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Japan) Whirlpool Junior Heavyweight Title Elimination Match “Bodyrock” by Moby played once again through the loudspeakers signaling the entrance of CIMA. Though he looked a bit tired after his hard-fought wins over Kid Romeo, Naomichi Marufuji & The Great Sasuke, he still walked with a pep in his step and an air of confidence, as he smiled and clapped hands with some of the fans along the aisle. “Goro Vs. Art” came through next, as Tatsuhito Takaiwa strolled down the ring, looking as stoic as ever. Though he had gone through two matches on the night, from his dominant performance of Ikuto Hidaka to his hard-hitting match with Ace Steel, any lingering pain was not evident and Takaiwa walked down to the ring like a bull ready to fight. Finally, to the classic sounds of “Separados” by Luis Miguel bleed through the speakers and out walked Ultimo Dragon, in new gear for the final, donning an outfit of gold to big “ooohs” from the crowds. Dragon has a slight hobble after his wins against two very different wrestlers in the tournament Ricky Marvin and Michael Modest, but still walks like this is his title to lose. As is the case with many 3-way matches, this one starts with a bit of trepidation, as all 3 men have to do some feeling out, but it is soon obvious that CIMA’s allegiance to his trainer Ultimo Dragon will allow for the two of them to gang up on the powerful Takaiwa. They do that, taking Takaiwa to the ground with rapid-fire kicks and double team moves, but in a mistake, CIMA sends Takaiwa to the ropes, where he fires back with a huge lariat, knocking CIMA down and then going on the attack against Ultimo. Takaiwa fights back like a world-beater against the two faces, delivering an early powerbomb on Ultimo Dragon, before dipping out of the ring to collect himself. Seeing his trainer laying prone, CIMA attempts a quick pin on Ultimo Dragon, but only gets a two-count and from there, all allegiances are out the window. The match is awesome, with a mix of everything the 3 can offer and everyone getting a shine in. Takaiwa is the dominant force throughout, seemingly indestructible, really causing CIMA and Dragon to have to “survive” through the punishment. To the surprise of many, Ultimo Dragon is the first wrestler eliminated around the 13-minute mark, as CIMA follows up a Death Valley Driver from Takaiwa with a big frog splash off the top rope for the 3-count. The crowd gasps as the favorite to win the tournament is eliminated, but don’t get long as Takaiwa immediately goes on the offensive against CIMA. Ultimo Dragon rolls out of the ring, disappointed by waves to the fans as he heads to the back. CIMA and Takaiwa continue having a barn-burner for another 10 minutes, CIMA sneakily avoiding heavy impact moves and attempting to take out the legs of Takaiwa. Takaiwa is too strong and too resilient, however, and it only takes one mistake from CIMA, this one a springboard bodysplash, that is met by a huge dropkick from Takaiwa. From there, Takaiwa goes through the motions of destroying CIMA, a huge lariat, stomps on the ground, a deadlift german suplex, and the powerbomb/death valley driver combo for the 3-count. Takaiwa stands with his arms raised, the first Whirlpool Champion, as Adrian Street and Masa Saito hand him the belt. For the first time in BCP, Takaiwa smiles as he holds the belt above his head, but cuts his celebration short to walk back to the back. A dominant performance through and through, it is unknown WHO can take it to the champ. Winner (and Whirlpool Junior Heavyweight Champion): Tatsuhito Takaiwa Results: Ultimo Dragon def. Ricky Marvin (8:56) (**1/4) Ace Steel def. Masaaki Mochizuki (19:34) (****1/2) The Great Sasuke def. Rey Bucanero (9:40) (**3/4) Michael Modest def. Gedo (10:14) (***) Tatsuhito Takaiwa def. Ikuto Hidaka (5:03) (**1/2) CIMA def. Naomichi Marufuji (17:11) (****) Ultimo Dragon def. Michael Modest (14:15) (***1/2) Tatsuhito Takaiwa def. Ace Steel (15:21) (***3/4) CIMA def. The Great Sasuke (16:56) (***3/4) Tatsuhito Takaiwa def. CIMA & Ultimo Dragon (24:13) (****)

Prior to the night's events, Beach Club Pro owner Dennis Rodman, along with Adrian Street and Masa Saito held a small press conference in one of the Sam’s Town conference rooms discussing their plans for the weekend. In the conference, Rodman spoke at length about his excitement of the talent they have been able to acquire so far, especially in the junior heavyweight division. He said that his short time in WCW afforded him an opportunity to see some of the Cruiserweight action the company put on and was impressed but made it clear that he thought that Beach Club Pro could do better. Street talked about how he used his connections as a trainer in Florida to help find some talent for the tournament, while the respect that Saito has in Japan really helped bring the majority of the names on board. When asked about the young Mexican talent involved, Street was clear that Ultimo Dragon still has a lot of influence in Mexico, and a list of names in both Mexico and Japan he wants to bring into the company, some he was pertinent in bringing to this weekend. Lastly, Street and Rodman discussed the events of the Beyond The Sea Title Tournament and praised the competitors, even congratulating the outspoken Ricky Banderas and his manager, Konnan. Street stated that Beach Club Pro isn’t a wrestling company that is going to be straight-laced, that many shows will feature a variety of characters and wrestling styles and with that, there is bound to be controversial finishes. Street was a bit cryptic in stating that he was upset at the way that The Stud Stable and Konnan operated through the tournament, but also seemed to give them props for outthinking their opponents. Rodman jumped in to state with a bigger ultimatum and hopes for the Whirlpool Junior Heavyweight Title tournament, stating that excessive outside interference will not be tolerated, that weapon use will not be tolerated and anyone who cheats their way through the tournament is subject to forfeits and expulsion. Rodman finished with a hopeful line, “This tournament features 21 of the best WRESTLERS in the world, and we are asking them in SHOW that to the audience.” Beach Club Pro “Whirlpool Title Tournament Night 1” September 5th, 2000 Live from Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada The show kicked off with a raucous crowd chanting their usual BCP chant, before out of the speakers comes a low synth rumble, a Dragon roar and the sounds of “Separados” by Luis Miguel. Out from behind the curtain walks none other than the legend, Ultimo Dragon wearing a gray suit, but still with his mask on. The crowd is whipped into an insane amount of applause. He holds his arms out, relishing in the moment before slowly walking down to the ring, alternating sides and giving lots of high fives and handshakes with the fans. Dragon enters the ring and poses to each side of the ring, before taking a seat ringside to watch the next match. Match 1: Ultimo Guerrero (Mexico) Vs. Ricky Marvin (Mexico) Sea Bracket Opening Round The now familiar horns rumbled through the speakers as “Tres Delinquents” by Delinquent Habits was played through Sam’s Town and out walked the masked Ultimo Guerrero with Rey Bucanero and El Satanico at his side. The three members of Los Infernales talked at the entrance, before giving high-fives to one another and leaving Guerrero to walk down the aisle by himself. Making his second appearance at Beach Club Pro, after impressing during a scramble, Ricky Marvin entered to “El son de la negra” by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. Marvin, despite his small size and single appearance garnered a lot of applause from the crowd and took his time to wave and salute to the audience. Despite their shared common country, the contrasting styles between the bigger Ultimo Guerrero and high-flyer Ricky Marvin made for an especially exciting opening match to the Whirlpool Title Tournament. Guerrero worked from on top throughout the match, using his slight experience advantage and his strength to thwart most offensive attempts by Marvin. Marvin is able to duck a clothesline attempt from Guerrero and spring off the opposing ropes with a spinning tornillo on Guerrero, who peters out of the ring. Marvin follows up with a running, springboard tornillo to the outside, knocking Guerrero against the railing. The match continues, as Marvin is able to get a bit more offense in now, as he focuses on Guerrero’s right knee with a series of low dropkicks and submission moves. Guerrero continues to fight through it and is able to hit a handful of impactful moves, but once Marvin slowed Guerrero down, his speed was too much to handle and Marvin wound up getting the surprise win with a springboard Hurricanrana in the center of the ring. As Marvin has his hand raised in the ring, Ultimo Dragon enters the ring, clapping. He approaching Marvin, who looks worried - but Dragon extends his hand for a handshake, and then raises Marvin’s hand, showing respect for his coming opponent. Winner: Ricky Marvin Match 2: Naomichi Marufuji (Japan) Vs. Jado (Japan) Sun Bracket Opening Round “FUCK YOU WE ARE JADO & GEDO” pierces through the speakers followed by “Caboose” by Sugar Ray as the dastardly Jado enters the arena with the equally dastardly Gedo walking behind him. Both men wear low-slung bandanas on their heads and completely ignore the boos coming from the crowd. Jado enters the ring as Gedo stays on the outside. “Dangerous Zone” by You & The Explosion Band bounces out of the speakers next and out walks Naomichi Marufuji, wearing a sparkling, sleeveless jacket and a mask that covers half of his face. The crowd cheers loudly at the man who has impressed a couple of times on earlier Beach Club shows. The match proceeded with Jado trying to take the upper hand wherever he could, and while Gedo never put his hands on Marufuji, he did everything he could to distract him or the referee. Without obligatory interference, Jado, despite his experience advantage, struggled to keep up with the finesse, speed and strikes of Marufuji, who more or less toyed with Jado throughout the match. While Jado was able to get some big moves in on Marufuji, including a Tiger Driver for a 2-count, the young Marufuji proved to be too much, knocking Jado loopy with a hook kick to the face and following it up with the Shiranui for the win. Winner: Naomichi Marufuji Match 3: Ace Steel (USA) Vs. Super Delfin (Japan) Sand Bracket Opening Round In one of the most anticipated matches of the First Round, the hard-hitting American Ace Steel entered the arena to “Shitlist” by L7, looking ready to make a statement against his opponent, anger truly shown across his face. Following that, “Knocking on Forbidden Doors” by Enigma creeps out the speakers and the underground Japanese legend Super Delfin comes out to ooh’s and aah’s. Delfin claps hands and poses throughout his walk to the ring, but upon entering, is immediately attacked by Ace Steel! Steel beats down on Delfin, stomping him with force, elbowing him in the face, and throwing him against the ropes with a huge lariat follow-up. Delfin manages to roll out of the ring and disrobe, but Steel quickly follows him out and chases him around the ringside area, but Delfin is able to slide in and as Steel enters, Delfin is able to take the advantage and stomp him. Delfin and Steel then spend much of the rest of the match on the mat, with Delfin using a bit of the lucharesu style on Ace. Steel showed his strength during a combination pin attempt, by kicking Delfin into the air as he kicked-out. A strike exchange between the two allows for Steel to take the upper hand with his strength. A snap suplex after a big punch is followed by a deadlift vertical suplex, and a big leg drop. There is some more back and forth, but Steel overmatches the Delfin with his strength and ferocity, eventually putting him away with the Steel Spike, a diving DDT off the top rope. Winner: Ace Steel Before the next match kicks off, the fans are greeted by the exciting guitar wailing of classic wrestling theme “Integral Hard”, which can only mean one thing, as out walks The Great Sasuke in full gear, plus a white robe to HUGE applause for the crowd. Sasuke, known for his work around the world, seems to be known well here in Las Vegas and the crowd lets him know their joy at seeing him. He poses in the ring, before taking a seat ringside for the next match to determine his opponent. Match 4: Rey Bucanero (Mexico) Vs. Onryo (Japan) Sun Bracket Opening Round One of his partners already wrestling and losing a match, Rey Bucanero enters the arena alone and awaits his enigmatic opponent. A low, intense rumble is heard through the arena, with some ambient sound mixed in as the lights go low. A singular spotlight is placed at the entrance ramp as a creeping, minimally played piano and ghostly sounds are heard before Onryo, face painted, hair over his eyes and wearing dusty gray clothes walks out from the curtain. “Ugetsu” by Ryuichi Sakamoto continues to rumble as Onryo sort of stumbles slowly toward the ring, where Bucanero doesn’t know what to make of him. When the lights return and the music cuts, Rey Bucanero is on Onryo immediately, beating him down and attempting multiple pinfalls, but Onryo rolls out of them half-assed. Onryo shows little emotion nor does he attempt to attack Bucanero, but is unable to be put away. Suddenly, a few minutes in of being completely uninterested in the match, with Bucanero’s back turned, Onryo attacks with fury, ripping and clawing at Bucanero who looks completely flabbergasted. Onryo locks in an arm bar, but Bucanero is able to get to the ropes, and while Onryo doesn’t release and standup, he just sort of rolls immediately out of the ring, losing the emotion that overtook him a minute ago. Bucanero shakes his arm out and launches himself over the top rope, diving onto Onryo. Bucanero stands up and re-enters the ring. Onryo shows no pain on his face, but lays still as the ref counts him out. The bell rings and Bucanero, the referee and the crowd seem completely confused and boo Onryo and his lack of movement. He slowly stands up and walks to the back without acknowledging anyone. Bucanero shrugs, has his hand raised and points at Sasuke in a threatening matter as Sasuke crosses his arms. Everyone walks to the back. Winner: Rey Bucanero Match 5: Michael Modest (USA) Vs. Virus (Mexico) Sea Bracket Opening Round The popular 90’s song “Natural One” by Folk Implosion plays as some members of the audience sing along and out walks Bay Area independent stalwart, and someone the Vegas crowd is familiar with: Michael Modest. He is looking in the best shape of his career and flexing as he walks down the aisle, but makes sure to give high-fives to a handful of the ringside crowd. He is followed out by the technical luchador Virus, entering to “Prime Audio Soup” by Meat Beat Manifesto. Half of his face is painted and he dons a mask, but he takes it off as he enters the ring to boos from the crowd. This is the most technically sound match of the night, with Virus really working holds on Modest that most in the crowd have never seen before. Modest, for his part, is able to stand nearly toe-to-toe, but Virus works his technical expertise to mitigate Modest’s strength advantage. Both men have some big spots, Virus hitting a moonsault in the middle of the ring, and Modest able to do a handstand frankensteiner on Virus. This match also goes longer than the matches prior to it, approaching 17 minutes before Modest is able to snatch Virus off the ground and deadlift him into a fisherman buster before picking him up and delivering the Modest Driver for the pinfall victory. Winner: Michael Modest Match 6: Tarzan Boy (Mexico) Vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (Japan) Sand Bracket Opening Round In easily the best match on the card up to this point, Masaaki Mochizuki and his lethal feet paired up perfectly with Tarzan Boy and his flashy style. The two continually hit big spots, from moonsaults to dives to the outsides, to brainbusters both inside AND outside of the ring. In a huge spot, Tarzan Boy drop kicked Mochizuki off the apron, and ran across the ring before diving over the top rope onto Mochizuki, both men spilling OVER the railing and into the crowd. They brawled for a few seconds in the crowd, before coming back to the ring at the 19 count. Mochizuki seemed to always have the psychological edge, as his toughness and ability to sneak a kick out of nowhere continually surprised Tarzan Boy. After hitting a suplex, Mochizuki followed up with a corner springboard kick back at Tarzan Boy, who was able to dodge it, but ever light on his feet, Mochizuki followed up with a big roundhouse knocking him down. Propping Tarzan Boy up, Mochizuki delivered 3 straight kicks to the chest of Tarzan Boy, doubling him over before bouncing off the ropes and hitting him with a soccer kick to the head. As Mochizuki appealed to the crowd for a second before going for the pin, he was suddenly attacked by Ultimo Guerrero! The bell was rung, but Guerrero went to town on Mochizuki, delivering a reverse suplex, a frog splash and swinging at his knee with a big chairshot. As Tarzan Boy came to, he looked at Guerrero aghast, before smiling and attacking Mochizuki’s right leg himself and hugging Guerrero before heading to the back. Winner (by DQ): Masaaki Mochizuki Match 7: Gedo (Japan) Vs. Elix Skipper (USA) Sea Bracket Opening Round The crowd gets hyped to the sounds of “Party Up” by DMX as Elix Skipper comes out, slapping hands with the fans and smiling on his way to the ring. Gedo enters the arena brandishing a chair and with Jado in tow, who looks banged up from his match earlier in the night. As the two enter the ring, Gedo cocks back the chair as if he is going to hit Skipper with it, but hands it to Jado and laughs. Throughout the match, Skipper is overmatched by the more technically sound Gedo, who is able to get the upper hand on the mat and he uses his cheating ways to every advantage, grinding fingers into his eyes when the referee can’t see, illegally choking, and more. Skipper, ever the athlete, and angry about his previous defeat to Gedo, is able to maneuver his way out of holds with pure strength and willpower, and he continually gets some really neat high spots, including a standing shooting star press. Around the 10 minute mark, Skipper sets up for the Play of the Day, but with his body just out of the referee’s view, Gedo is able to punch Skipper right in his exposed crotch, causing him to collapse. Gedo quickly follows up with the Gedo clutch and gets the 3-count for the victory! Winner: Gedo Prior to the next match, the final tournament contestant with a bye enters the arena as “Goro Vs. Art” from Mortal Kombat plays and the perpetually angry Tatushito Takaiwa walks down to the ring. Not quite having the awards that Ultimo Dragon or The Great Sasuke have, Takaiwa earned his Bye due to dominating performances in the early BCP shows. He walks down in a t-shirt and wrestling trunks, looking like he is ready to fight, even though he isn’t schedule for the day. He ignores the crowd and sits ringside awaiting the two men who may face him in the next round. Match 8: Ikuto Hidaka (Japan) Vs. El Satanico (Mexico) Sand Bracket Opening Round The triumphant sounds of “Go” by Asia sound off in the venue as Ikuto Hidaka, the man who has been destroyed by Takaiwa so far, though showed promise and heart, walks down to the ring. Though diminutive in size, he looks determined as he awaits the lucha legend. Right on cue, “Tres Delinquents” plays for the third time tonight, and out walks the elder, El Satanico. Normally standing ringside the members of his Los Infernales team, he is now leading the charge with Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero and new member Tarzan Boy walking behind him. All 4 men enter the ring and look on menacingly at Hidaka, but much to the surprise of everyone, Takaiwa slides in the ring and stands in front of Hidaka! This man who has destroyed Hidaka in the past seems to be defending him. Hidaka stands side by side with him, and Satanico finally raises his hands and dismisses his crew, as they check to see if he’s sure. He is, and the 3 men walk to the back as Takaiwa, ever stoic, slides back out of the ring, never even acknowledging Hidaka. The match goes on pretty cleanly and is a lot of back and forth. While both men are experts on the mat, Satanico gets the slight edge, though the speed of Hidaka proves to be a bit of an issue for the luchador. Satanico takes it to the outside a few times, showing his prowess as an elite brawler as well. Knowing that Hidaka employs high-impact kicks, Satanico also continually tries to damage the legs of his opponent, wrapping them around the ropes and the ringpost and doing what he can to slow down Hidaka. However, it proves to not be quite enough, as Hidaka shows that even at half-speed, he’s one of the fastest wrestlers in the world and is able to duck in and out in order to attack Satanico, even taking out his legs as well. When Satanico gets a rear waistlock on Hidaka, Hidaka is able to spin out into his own rear waistlock, hit a german suplex and transition right into a kneebar, and while Satanico fights and fights to get to the ropes to break it up, Hidaka looks STRAIGHT at Takaiwa on the outside and wrenches the hold in tighter before Satanico can do nothing else but tap out! Satanico rolls out of the ring and Bucanero runs out to help him to the back. Takaiwa enters the ring and stares at the exhausted Hidaka, who’s hand is raised. Takaiwa never breaks his stare, but gives a slight nod, before exiting the ring and heading to the back. Winner: Ikuto Hidaka Main Event: Kid Romeo (Puerto Rico) Vs. CIMA (Japan) Sun Bracket Opening Round The wild sounds of “Bodyrock” by Moby play as out walks the man who impressed so recently in the scramble, none other than the student of Ultimo Dragon, CIMA. Dressed in trunks that are multiple shades of blue with tassels, and some light facepaint on, the Japanese rising star enters, clapping hands to the music, dancing a little bit and giving high-fives to the fans. This is interrupted by the now too familiar sounds of “Si Senor” by Control Machete as none other than the manager of the BCP Beyond The Sea Champion, Konnan. Behind him walks the man we saw join him recently, Kid Romeo. Romeo wears red trunks and his body is glistening, looking more like a model than a wrestler, but his impressive strength is evident as he walks down the ring with a certain cocky swagger. These two have locked up before, where both displayed incredible offense on each other. This match is no different, and though Konnan is tempted to get involved from time to time, knowing it helped his other charge, he refrains here, letting Romeo do the heavy lifting. And for his part, he does. Without the training or experience that CIMA has, Romeo is nevertheless impressive, ragdolling CIMA around the ring, lifting him up in a vertical suplex before just tossing him. He shows off impressive agility as well, hitting a springboard leg drop and a standing moonsault on the damaged Japanese grappler. CIMA is too resilient and too good, however, lighting Romeo up with kicks, slaps and a big palm strike to the face. Though he isn’t able to overpower the bigger wrestler, he uses his brain to take out his wheels, nailing Romeo with 4 consecutive dragon screws before locking him into an extended single leg crab. Romeo is able to get the ropes for the break, but the damage is done. The back and forth continues for a little bit, but CIMA is just too much for the less experienced wrestler and hits a double-underhook powerbomb, before climbing to the top rope and nailing Romeo with a Meteora as he attempts to sit up. He follows with the pin and gains the win! Konnan looks on disappointed, as he helps Romeo to the back, but CIMA’s hand is raised in victory as the show closes. Winner: CIMA Results: Ricky Marvin def. Ultimo Guerrero (11:01) (***½) Naomichi Marufuji def. Jado (7:13) (**3/4) Ace Steel def. Super Delfin (9:50) (***¼) Rey Bucanero def. Onryo (4:30) (*) Michael Modest def. Virus (16:58) (***¾) Masaaki Mochizuki def. Tarzan Boy (13:43) (***¾) Gedo def. Elix Skipper (9:01) (***) Ikuto Hidaka def. El Satanico (11:31) (****) CIMA def. Kid Romeo (15:17) (***½)

ANNOUNCING THE FINAL BRACKET FOR THE BEACH CLUB PRO JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE TOURNAMENT BCP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament (Sept. 5th & 6th): SAND Bracket Tatsuhito Takaiwa (JP) (First Round Bye) Ikuto Hidaka (JP) Vs. El Satanico (MX) Masaaki Mochizuki (JP) Vs. Tarzan Boy (MX) Super Delfin (JP) Vs. Ace Steel (US) Final Cards: September 5th: Sea Bracket 1st Round: Ultimo Guerrero (MX) Vs. Ricky Marvin (MX) Sea Bracket 1st Round: Elix Skipper (US) Vs. Gedo (JP) Sea Bracket 1st Round: Michael Modest (US) Vs. Virus (MX) Sun Bracket 1st Round: Onryo (JP) Vs. Rey Bucanero (MX) Sun Bracket 1st Round: Naomichi Marufuji (JP) Vs. Jado (JP) Sun Bracket 1st Round: CIMA (JP) Vs. Kid Romeo (PR/US) Sand Bracket 1st Round: Ikuto Hidaka (JP) Vs. El Satanico (MX) Sand Bracket 1st Round: Masaaki Mochizuki (JP) Vs. Tarzan Boy (MX) Sand Bracket 1st Round: Super Delfin (JP) Vs. Ace Steel (US) September 6th: Sea Bracket 2nd Round: Winner A Vs. Ultimo Dragon (JP) Sea Bracket 2nd Round: Winner B Vs. Winner C Sun Bracket 2nd Round: Winner A Vs. The Great Sasuke (JP) Sun Bracket 2nd Round: Winner B Vs. Winner C Sand Bracket 2nd Round: Winner A Vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (JP) Sand Bracket 2nd Round: Winner B Vs. Winner C Sea Bracket Final Sun Bracket Final Sand Bracket Final Junior Tournament 3-Way Final

Your shows always ring true of 2000-era tv. Good work

Beach Club Pro “World Title Tournament FINAL” August 29, 2000 Live from Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada GET THE FUCK UP SIMON SAYS GET THE FUCK UP The crowd is welcomed back to the 4th ever Beach Club Pro show and is on their feet as the company owner Dennis “The Worm” Rodman slinks out from behind the curtain, clad in a gray suit and sunglasses. His white shirt underneath his jacket is unbuttoned to his navel and he wears flip flops in lieu of dress shoes. On his way to the ring, he makes sure to clap hands with some ringside fans before entering the ring with a microphone. “What is up BEACH CLUB PRO???” The crowd erupts, as crowds do. “I’m happy to see y’all back for the 4th Saturday in a row. This shit has been pretty good right? As everyone has seen by now, next week we got a two-fer, as we will be hosting shows on both September 5th AND 6th in order to to showcase our un-fucking-believable Junior Heavyweight roster and crown the first champ of that division. Hopefully you got your tickets, because I am here to tell you that as of last night, both shows are completely SOLD OUT.” The crowd applauds at this announcement. “It seems like our little scrambles last week really struck a nerve. Let me just say, you’re gonna want to bring a seat belt or something to strap yourself in next week, because these guys are gonna take flight. You heard it here first, but we plan on making this the most exciting tournament in wrestling history.” “That brings us to TONIGHT. Y’all wanna crown a World Champion with me? Let’s bring em out!” One by one, each of the Final 4 competitors walk to the ring. First out is Tomoaki Honma smiling and waving to the crowd. He is followed by Ricky Banderas who walks out scowling, ignoring the crowd with Konnan yelling at the audience behind him. Third out is Satoshi Kojima, who was virtually unknown to American audiences before Beach Club Pro, but receives a deafening amount of cheering as he slowly walks, slapping his right arm in a Lariat gesture as he walks down. Finally, to the tune of “Homesick” by the Atlantic Rhythm Section, out walks Robert Fuller flanked by CW Anderson and Jerry Flynn. They walk just outside of the entrance, before parting and revealing Kendall Windham in his wrestling trunks, boots, sleeveless t-shirt and cowboy hat. The four men walk to the ring to a loud chorus of boos. “Now men, I brought you 4 out here to congratulate you on making it this far - some of you a lil more legitimate than others…” At this, The Stud Stable has a look of both anger and also that of being smarter than their competition. Konnan isn’t so subtle and yells a loud “ey Fuck y’all” out loud. “I also want to show you what you are fighting for. Adrian, if you and Mr. Saito could bring out the belt.” Out from the back, walks “Exotic” Adrian Street, executive of Beach Club Pro, and with him is the legendary Masa Saito, head of Japanese talent and acquisitions. These two, responsible for much of the talent we have seen so far receive a fantastic amount of applause. In his hands, Adrian has a black velvet bag, containing an obvious title belt. The two walk to the ring and stand with Rodman, who begins speaking again. “Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce you to the Beach Club Pro Beyond The Sea Championship” Adrian motions toward Saito, who reaches into the bag and pulls out a large gold belt mounted on turquoise/aqua leather. The belt features tidal wave motifs in the gold, similar to the eagle wings in the old WWF belt. In the center is a Globe and under the globe are the flags of the United States, Japan and Puerto Rico. Saito holds the belt up to the crowd to applause, and then shows it to the 4 wrestlers who look hungry to possess it. “I am also here for one more announcement. When we announced Beach Club Pro, we stated we were working to secure footing in Japan. With the dissolution of the Japanese wrestling scene alongside the US scene, we have seen some scraps picked up, but we believe that Beach Club Pro could become a major player there. Unfortunately, I do not have more information on that expansion…But I AM able to announce that we have secured a venue for expansion nonetheless. Don’t get me wrong, Las Vegas is the HOME of Beach Club Pro, Las Vegas is the home of Dennis Rodman, but come October 10th and the few weeks that follow, Beach Club Pro will have a second home...in San Juan, Puerto Rico.” The crowd cheers at this news, but perhaps the person most excited is Ricky Banderas, as a sly smile creeps upon his face with the knowledge that his new promotion is moving into his home. “Puerto Rico has a long-standing tradition of being one of the most wild places for wrestling in the world - so we knew that’s where Beach Club Pro had to go. We will have more info in the future, so stay tuned.” “Now, though, let’s get this tournament going. Kendall, Kojima-san, you get to wait. Mr. Banderas and Mr. Honma are up first. Soda Can and Light Tube death match.” The crowd erupts as Rodman, Street, Saito, The Stud Stable and Kojima leave the ring and are passed by the stage crew, who are carrying boards covered in soda cans cut in half and boxes of light tubes. The crowd, having been talked to for a bit too long, have bloodlust in their cheers. The attendants line the ropes with hundreds of light tubes and leave the rest in boxes in the corners of the ring, with the soda boards in opposite corners. Match 1: Ricky Banderas Vs. Tomoaki Honma Beyond The Sea Tournament Semi-Final (Death Bracket Final) Soda Can Board & Light Tube Death Match To recap how they got here, Ricky Banderas, not a death match wrestler, beat “Sick” Nick Mondo in a TLC match and Vampiro in an Extreme Coffin match. Tomoaki Honma first defeated Ric Blade in a barbed-wire board deathmatch and followed that up by knocking out Justice Pain in a Taipei death match. This one starts off with both men being a little hesitant at first, knowing that whatever happens here, the winner will have a tough second match after this. The two start on the mat, actually working a UWF style and both showing off impressive grappling skills early. This all ends when they are stood up and Banderas slaps Honma across the face, boots him in the gut and then Irish Whips him into the ropes, where a dozen light tubes break upon impact and Honma’s back is opened up. The match continues on with lots of big moves from both men and most light tubes around the ring broken up. Honma spends much of the match working from underneath, but continues to show his never-say-die attitude and just when he seems like he doesn’t have much left in the tank, he pulls out a big move, including a jumping piledriver onto light tubes in the center of the ring. Most attempts at slamming their opponent onto the soda can boards result in reversals, but as Honma sets Banderas up in the corner and runs across the ring for a Stinger Splash, Banderas fires out and catches Honma in mid-air, before planting him straight down with a spinebuster onto a soda can board. At this point, Honma’s body is covered in blood while Banderas’ face is. Around the 15-minute mark, Banderas surprises Honma with a leaping flatliner, knocking Honma out. Banderas then places a soda can board on top of him, climbs the nearest turnbuckle and hits a frogsplash onto the board and Honma. The crowd can hear Honma scream, but Banderas grabs his own ribs, smiles, removes the board and cockily pins Honma for the 3 count. Winner (And moving into the Beyond The Sea Championship Final): Ricky Banderas Banderas is clearly in pain as Konnan helps him to his feet and raises his arm to boos from the crowd. Konnan grabs his crotch at the crowd and gives them a few chin flicks before aiding Banderas to the back. Medics come into check on Honma and roll him out of the ring, but he brushes them off and comes to - wanting to stand on his own. As he does so, leaning on the ropes, the crowd roars with applause. Match 2: Tom Howard & Don Frye Vs. The Stud Stable (Jerry Flynn & CW Anderson) This is hardly a match, as Frye and Howard go face to face with Flynn and Anderson right at the beginning and the 4 men break down into slugging it out. Frye and Howard are PISSED these two have cost them wins in the tournament and are looking to take their frustrations out on The Stud Stable. The referee tries to separate the parties, but the dislike is so real that he fails. Frye and Anderson spill to the outside where Frye seems to dominate him, but Flynn gets a sneaky kick into Frye’s lower regions that bends him over. Robert Fuller, who is standing ringside, eventually throws a chair into the ring and Anderson grabs it and wacks Howard across the face with it, knocking him down and out before the referee officially calls the match off. The 4 continue to brawl, Howard now busted open, but eventually The Stud Stable is able to escape and head backstage. Frye and Howard come to and look at the crowd, obviously miffed and ready to keep fighting, they head to the back, as though on a mission. No Contest The mess in the ring from the last two matches is more thoroughly cleaned as the audience regroups. It doesn’t take long however, before we once again hear The Stud Stable music for the 3rd time tonight and out walks Robert Fuller & Kendall Windham to a huge chorus of boos. Match 3: Kendall Windham Vs. Satoshi Kojima Beyond The Sea Tournament Semi-Final (Strong Bracket Final) Fuller, for his part, is beet red from what has just transpired, but Windham looks calm and collected, like he has this in the bag. Suddenly, the now familiar sounds of “Far Beyond The Sun” by Yngwie Malmsteen blast through the speakers and out walks Satoshi Kojima to deafening applause. Having defeated extremely tough competition in Maunakea Mossman and Steve Williams, Kojima has endeared himself to the fans and seems to be the crowd favorite to win the title. This match starts off with Kojima fiery out of the gate, not wanting to wait around for any of Windham’s usual shenanigans. Kojima backs him into the corner for machine gun chops, deflates him with a powerslam, and overall seems to have Windham’s number. Robert Fuller doesn’t take too long to get involved, grabbing Kojima’s foot as he runs the ropes for an attempted lariat, getting kicked for his service, but also allowing for Windham enough time to recover and get back into the match. Windham, credit to him, does get himself back into the match, using his years of experience to his advantage, occasionally taking short cuts, but ultimately able to dish out punishment back toward Kojima. During a particularly scientific exchange, Kojima spins out of a rear waitslock and grabs Windham’s head for a Kojima Cutter attempt, but Windham is able to shove him off, where Kojima runs hard into the referee, knocking him out! As if on schedule, Fuller enters the ring with a chair and takes a mighty swing at Kojima who ducks, causing Fuller to make solid contact with Windham! Kojima nails Fuller with a big dropkick, sending him out of the ring. Kojima goes up to the top rope for his signature flying elbow drop on Windham, but out of the crowd comes both Jerry Flynn and CW Anderson! Kojima hops down off the top rope and beckons the two men to come into the ring. They do as Kendall Windham also stirs and the 3 members of The Stud Stable surround Kojima, but suddenly, out come a sprinting Tom Howard and Don Frye! Howard and Frye take out Flynn and Anderson, leaving Windham alone in the ring with Kojima. Windham begs off, but Kojima stomps him down. He picks him up, throws him against the ropes and delivers a NASTY Cozy Lariat, knocking Windham down. The referee begins to stir finally, but Kojima picks up Windham, not done yet, and delivers the Cozy Crush Dynamite (Emerald Flowsion). The crowd is going nuts, as Kojima yells at the ref. He covers Windham as the ref crawls over and counts the 3 count! The roar through the crowd is huge as Kojima’s hand is raised. The Stud Stable peters back to the back, as Frye and Howard enter the ring to shake hands with Kojima. All 3 men raise their arms before heading to the back. Winner (And moving into the Beyond the Sea Championship Final): Satoshi Kojima Match 4: Ikuto Hidaka Vs. Ultimo Guerrero Vs. Ricky Marvin Vs. CIMA Vs. Kid Romeo 5-Way Scramble (Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament Prelude) At this point, many in the crowd were well aware of Hidaka and Guerrero who have both been featured frequently in the early BCP shows. Kid Romeo returned from a pretty impressive showing during a scramble last week, though he looked annoyed to be included in this match again. However, this match was about the two new debuting Junior Heavyweights - Ricky Marvin, the undersized high-flyer from Mexico and CIMA who had garnered enough hype in Japan and sparse appearances in WCW that the crowd was excited to see what he could offer. This match was fast-paced from the get-go, with Hidaka, Marvin and CIMA rapidly showing each other who was the most athletic. Guerrero worked his usual gig as a perfect base for flyers, but also showcased his power, even catching a diving Marvin on the outside and powerbombing him onto the floor. Kid Romeo seemed indifferent to the proceedings, though he did get a few spots in, including a big spinning brainbuster on Hidaka. However, once CIMA got in a few chops and snapping kicks in on Romeo, the Puerto Rican exited the ring, looking annoyed. Hidaka set up Ricky Marvin for a German Suplex, but Romeo ran in and hit a gnarly clothesline to the back of Hidaka. CIMA came in to stop him, but Romeo booted him in the cut and nailed him with an exploder suplex before walking out of the ring. Romeo made the motion of wiping his hands before walking up the aisle to the back. Once there, out walked Konnan to big boos. The two shake hands and walk back behind the curtain. Back in the ring, Ultimo Guerrero is the only man standing, grabs CIMA in a reverse suplex position, but as he lifts him up, CIMA flips out, hits a german suplex on Guerrero, a running dropkick to the face and then climbs to the top, where he is able to hit a big Frogplash to the back of Guerrero, before flipping him over and getting the pin! Winner: CIMA Match 5: Los Infernales (Rey Bucanero & El Satanico) Vs. Onryo & “Sick” Nick Mondo In a bit of a surprise, the legendary luchador El Satanico jumped in the ring with his stable-mate Bucanero here as they took on this mysterious Japanese talent Onryo, recently announced as the first-round opponent for Bucanero in the Junior Heavyweight Title tournament. Onryo came out slowly, looking like a horror movie. His hair covered his white and gray painted face, while his clothes appeared to be covered in a thick layer of dust, like he was pulled from dozens of years ago. As Onryo entered the ring, he stood in his corner, staring at the ground. Bucanero held up his arms and the two members of Los Infernales screamed about “where is your partner?” before attacking Onryo. They both kicked him to the mat, before the crowd suddenly screams and running out from the back is none other than “Sick” Nick Mondo who charges to the ring, nailing the luchadors with a big springboard body press, before checking on Onryo, who just kind of ignores him. Mondo is not participating in the Junior tournament, since he already entered the Beyond the Sea tournament, but the crowd is happy to have him back, nonetheless. This match essentially amounts to a brawl, as weapons are brought out, but the match isn’t stopped. Bucanero and Onryo go at it back and forth, Bucanero even hitting a nasty spinebuster on Onryo through a table on the outside. Mondo tries to work the mat with Satanico, but he is outmatched by the older man and has to focus on his speed. He does get some licks in here, but Satanico, at one point one of the best wrestlers in the world, is able to stop him with his wiley moves. Eventually Satanico hits Mondo with a low blow and follows up with a rolling Figure-Four for the submission victory. Onryo, in his ghostlike fashion showed some guts going up against the bigger Bucanero, but was ultimately left in a heap on the ground. Winners: Los Infernales Prior to the main event, “Exotic” Adrian Street and Masa Saito walk out from the back once again, Saito carrying the brand new Beyond The Sea Championship belt. Adrian gets on the mic and announces that the Final match in the tournament will quite be a death match, but will incorporate some elements, as the final will be contested under “Falls Count Anywhere, Anything Goes” rules. Main Event: Ricky Banderas Vs. Satoshi Kojima Beyond The Sea Championship Falls Count Anywhere, Anything Goes To the sounds of “Si Senor” by Control Machete, Ricky Banderas walks back out, in the biggest match of his career. Having taken quite a beating from Tomoaki Honma earlier in the night, he is bandaged up, but looks ready to go. Following behind him, perhaps tipping the match in his favor with the new stipulation is Konnan and Kid Romeo. The 3 walk down to the ring to loud boos. Satoshi Kojima walks out next, with a bit of a hobble himself from his previous match. The crowd cheers him for finally thwarting The Stud Stable, but as he approaches the ring, he looks worried at the scene that includes Konnan and Romeo. He waits outside the ring, before turning back toward the entrance ramp - where out comes two of his countrymen - Tomohiro Ishii & Manabu Nakanishi to a rapturous applause. The two hard-hitting Japanese wrestlers look intimidating and stare down the Banderas crew, before Kojima enters the ring. The match, for its part is insane from the get go, both men incredibly hungry for the title. The strikes seem to land a little bit harder, the throws seem to be with even more impact, and though Konnan tries to get involved many times, he is thwarted almost instantly by Ishii or Nakanishi. The match does wind up spilling to the outside, and at that point, all 6 men begin brawling at ringside. Amidst the melee, Kojima comes up bleeding from the head, though how exactly it happened is unknown. It seems to bring an extra level of aggression out from him, and he throws Banderas back into the ring and takes charge. Working leg submissions, breaking open his chest with chops, and dumping him on his head with a ddt. Banderas recovers, now also bleeding from the head, reopening a wound from earlier in the night. The match remains hot as it goes outside again. Romeo sets up a table against the ring apron, which eventually Banderas spears Kojima through. He attempts a pin at this point, but Kojima valiantly kicks out at 2.5. The two bring it up the entrance way, just continually punching each other. Banderas makes his way back to the ring, and when Kojima re-enters, Banderas pounces, unleashing a barrage of strikes. The match continues back and forth past the 20-minute mark as both men refuse to give up, multiple nearfalls taking place. Kojima hits the Kojima Cutter and the top rope elbow drop, but Konnan is able to pull him off the pinfall attempt from the outside. Kojima looks exhausted as he rises to his feet and signals for the Cozy Lariat. Banderas slowly rises to his feet and Kojima runs the ropes and nails him with it! Before he can make the pin attempt, Romeo slides in and hits his own lariat on Kojima! The other 3 men enter the ring and begin brawling to loud boos from the crowd. The brawl spills outside and up the aisle to the back, leaving just Kojima and Banderas in the ring. The crowd stands up and cheers as they finally have the two men vying for the title alone in the ring. The referee checks on both men as they slowly make their way to their feet, groggy as hell. Kojima leans against the ropes, but takes notice of the applause, turns his back to Banderas and makes the motion for the Cozy Lariat! As he does this, ANOTHER huge person slides into the ring, clad in shiny black trunks and boots. He’s ripped to the gills and stands in the ring waiting for Kojima. Kojima bounces off the ropes and turns toward his opponent but is immediately met with a HUGE superkick to the face, knocking him down. The man then picks up Kojima, and delivers a spinning Rock Bottom, knocking the wind out of Kojima and leaving him laying cold. He walks to Banderas and slaps him to make sure he is awake, as Banderas sees what has happened in front of him. He wakes up, grabs a chair that had been left in the ring during the brawling, sets it in the middle of the ring, grabs Kojima and struggles, but delivers a sickening Cradle Piledriver onto the chair. The boos are the loudest in Beach Club Pro history, but Banderas smiles. He lazily pins Kojima and counts the number out loud along with the referee 1...2….3…. Your winner, and the first ever Beach Club Pro Beyond The Sea Champion… RICKY BANDERASSSSSSSSSSSS Adrian Street and Masa Saito enter the ring and begrudgingly hand the title to Banderas, who snaps it away, before showing it off to the booing and yelling crowd. The large, muscular man helps Banderas to the back, as he clutches the title. Kojima is left in the ring, nearly lifeless and medics come down to check on him. Nakanishi, Ishii, Howard and Frye also come down to the ring to check on him, and he slowly revives, sitting up, but looking so disappointed in his loss. He is able to stand on his own, to huge applause from the crowd, before all 5 men make their way to the back and the show ends. The crowd slowly exits the building, upset at the result of the main event, but with a little excitement for next week’s double-shot of Junior Heavyweight action. All in all, it looks like Konnan & Ricky Banderas outsmarted us all and are bringing the title to Puerto Rico. Results: Ricky Banderas def. Tomoaki Honma (15:34) (***½) Tom Howard & Don Frye Vs. Jerry Flynn & CW Anderson went to a No Contest (NR) Satoshi Kojima def. Kendall Windham (16:40) (***½) CIMA def. Ikuto Hidaka, Ultimo Guerrero, Ricky Marvin & Kid Romeo (9:12) (***¾) El Satánico Rey Bucanero def. Onryo & Nick Mondo (8:25) (***) Beyond The Sea Championship: Ricky Banderas def. Satoshi Kojima (30:13) (***½)

That has gotta be the ultimate dream card for me. Excited to see who is announced for the tournament!

ANNOUNCING THE SECOND BRACKET FOR THE BEACH CLUB PRO JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE TOURNAMENT BCP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament (Sept. 5th & 6th): SUN Bracket The Great Sasuke (JP) (First Round Bye) Onryo (JP) Vs. Rey Bucanero (MX) Naomichi Marufuji (JP) Vs. Jado (JP) CIMA (JP) Vs. Kid Romeo (PR/US)

The main event for the August 12th show is the ultimate, damn.

Beach Club Pro “World Title Tournament - Night 3” August 22, 2000 Live from Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada BCP BCP BCP The crowd chanted as the lights dimmed slightly to signal the start of the show. Upon being welcomed back to Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino and the night of action ahead, a crunchy guitar riff suddenly erupts out of the speakers, paired with a heavy kickdrum. The song fils out at the 21 second mark and out walks “The Tennessee Stud” Robert Fuller in his white suit and cowboy hat, followed closely behind by Kendall Windham and CW Anderson. Guitars ring through the dead of night/ Scream so blue, sound so right/ Make you Homesick “Homesick” by the Atlanta Rhythm Section continues to rumble through the room as the three southern men make their way slowly down the aisle with big grins on their faces. The crowd meets them with a chorus of boos stemming from a few things, from their pompous attitudes, southern demeanor and most recognizably for stealing a win from Don Frye last week. The men enter the ring, laughing off the boos as Fuller takes a microphone. “Now what in tarnation?! What are y’all so upset about?” The boos get WAY louder. “I hear ya and I just cannot possibly understand! This is Vegas! Vegas! A place I love, a place I’ve spent a lot of time in! A place that shines against the desert sky! A place of great diversity where the rich and powerful like me have a chance to take money from the poor and weak like you!” At this, Windham and Anderson keel over laughing. Clutching their stomachs and pointing at the crowd. “Now, see, I’m here linked up with Kendall Windham cuz I know a thing or two about winning, see? I’ve been there, I’ve done that and while I make my money outside of the ring now, you best believe I recruit only the best for The Stud Stable. And you’re lookin’ at them? Kendall Windham, CW Anderson, Robert Fuller - traditional wrestling legends here in a place like Beach Club Pro, where jokers like DON FRYE are looked at like top tier athletes. Listen Frye, anyone can punch - this is WRESTLING. But enough about him. Tonight - Mr. Windham here is up against that Thomas Howard fella. Now, I’ve seen this guy in the ring and he’s good. He’s not Stud-material good, but he’s good. Kendall here? He’s better though, and at his request, and to show that we believe in him and his ability to move forward in the tournament, you won’t be seeing me or CW anywhere near that ring tonight during the match, not that he needs us or ever would, but just so that Tom Howard can stop shakin’ in his lil’ military boots there.” The crowd actually cheers at this. “But rest assured, when all is said and done, and just as always, a Windham hand is gonna be raised, and ol’ Kendall here will be movin’ on and soon that title will belong to him. The South is here, and the South don’t run.” Fuller drops the microphone and poses with the rest of The Stud Stable, before leaving to the back to a chorus of boos. Match 1: Virus Vs. Ace Steel Vs. Elix Skipper Vs. Jado Vs. Kid Romeo 5-Way Scramble (Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament Prelude) The first match of the night was a showcase for the upcoming Junior Heavyweight Title tournament and featured a couple of faces from the previous week, but three brand new faces to the BCP crowd. After entrances, the match started off with Mexican mat technician Virus facing off with Elix Skipper. Elix tried to match Virus move for move, but after a few second, it was clear that Virus was far superior on the mat, twisting in and around Elix, tripping him up countless times, flipping him on his back and continually able to grab a headlock. The crowd applauded the unique wizardry on the mat, and applauded as Skipper backed up, frustrated, before tagging in Kid Romeo. Romeo, only a half-dozen months into his career outside of the WCW powerplant came in and flexed and Virus politely clapped. As they went to lock up their fingers, Romeo timed a kick perfectly into Virus’ gut, sent him to the ropes and followed up with a huge dropkick, sending Virus to the outside. Utilizing “lucha rules”, Ace Steel entered the ring next with a serious look on his face. Wasting no time with Romeo’s antics, Steel charged Romeo with forearms and fists, sending him into the corner. He unloaded on him as the referee counted toward 5, before deadlifting Romeo up in a bearhug and sending him flying with a huge overhead belly to belly suplex. Romeo rolled out of the ring to gather himself, but Ace was having none of it, ran the ropes opposite and nailed Romeo with a huge suicide dive into the railing on the outside. With everyone on the outside, Jado finally entered the ring, and as the wrestlers gathered together outside, Jado ran the opposite ropes and made like he was going to dive, but stopped and pointed to his head to boos from the crowd. The match continued on for many more minutes with all 5 guys getting in their various spots, apart from Jado, who spent much of the match avoiding conflict. Virus, for his part hit a huge plancha to the outside on Ace Steel, Skipper continued to show unique and innovative offense, Romeo played to his strength, and though he was definitely the least seasoned of the five, his natural athleticism showed through. However, the dominant force through most of the match was Ace Steel, who had shades of Dynamite Kid in this match, throwing the rest of the group around like they were nothing. One misstep allowed for Kid Romeo to take advantage of him, and place a groggy Steel on the top turnbuckle. As Romeo climbed up for what appeared to be a Rana, Steel came to, kicked him off, rose to his feet and leaped off, catching romeo with a spiked DDT onto the mat for the 3 count in about 11 minutes. Steel’s hand was raised though his angry demeanor barely changed. The crowd was nevertheless impressed. Winner: Ace Steel Match 2: “Dr. Death” Steve Williams Vs. Satoshi Kojima World Title Tournament Second Round (Strong Bracket Semi-Finals) In a bit of a surprise, the two men who won the main events of the first two Beach Club Pro shows were placed a bit lower on the card for their matchup in the World Title Tournament tonight. Both men entered the ring calm and collected, but once the bell rang, all of that coolness was thrown out as the two big bulls rushed each other with shoulder blocks. The early portions of the match were all about showing their strength to one another, from a rope-running shoulder block exchange (won by Steve Williams) to a chop exchange (won by Satoshi Kojima). Only about 5 minutes in, both men had chests that looked like ground beef from the beatings they were giving one another, much to the pleasure of the crowd. After a short-arm lariat from Williams neglected to drop Kojima to the ground, Williams ran off the ropes and set up for another big lariat, but Kojima was able to catch the charging Oklahoman by surprise with a sudden spinning powerslam, to which the crowd erupts. The two continue to throw bombs, Williams even nailing Kojima with a piledriver at one point. Selling exhaustion, the ref begins a ten-count before both wrestlers make it to their feet, groggy at 9. The two meet in the center of the ring, exchanging sloppy clubbing fists at one another, before Williams gets the upper hand with a big elbow to the mush of Kojima. He puts Kojima on his shoulder and sets up for the Oklahoma Stampede, but right before he reaches the corner, Kojima slides out and pushes Williams into the corner and follows up with a big clothesline, sending Williams to the ground. Kojima picks Williams up, sends him across the ropes with an irish whip, and loads up for a big Cozy Lariat, but Williams catches it, spins Kojima around into a Murder Backdrop position, but but Kojima blocks that and hits Williams with the Koji Cutter! Kojima picks Williams up, leaving him groggy in the center of the ring, before Kojima runs back against the nearby ropes, cocks his forearm and delivers a NASTY Cozy Lariat that makes Dr. Death crumble to the ground. Kojima falls on top, hooks the leg and gets the surprise 3-count pinfall! The crowd erupts at the surprise, standing at attention and chanting “Holy Shit, Holy Shit”. Kojima can barely stand but his arm is raised as Williams remains motionless on the ground. Kojima picks him up and the two embrace as Williams once again raises the hand of his opponent. Winner (and moving to the Strong Bracket Finals): Satoshi Kojima As Kojima and Williams left the ring, a ring attendant walked down the aisle with two metal buckets. The one in his left hand is placed on a metal chair inside the ring. The one in his right hand is poured slowly into a shallow serving tray. The contents? Broken glass. Match 3: Justice Pain Vs. Tomoaki Honma World Title Tournament Second Round (Death Bracket Semi-Finals) Taipei Death Match The crowd is more subdued than usual as these two competitors walk out. Though both Justice Pain and Tomoaki Honma had very impressive performances during their first round matches, the stipulation at hand here worries some. Both competitors have their fists and forearms wrapped in tape. Justice Pain, looking every bit as tough and angry as he always does, confidently dips his fists into the bucket placed on the chair, raising them to show the crowd his hands are now covered in a hot glue. He then dips and rolls his hands in the serving tray of glass, coating his arms in shards of beer bottles and more. Honma, for his part, looks a bit more trepidatious, though once Pain shouts “C’mon MOTHERFUCKER”, Honma slaps himself and repeats the process - lifting his hands to show a rainbow of glass covering his fists. The chair and glue are removed from the ring, and as the ring attendant picks up the serving tray and bucket of glass, Pain stops him and dumps out the content all over the ring, before beating his chest link King Kong. The match, for it’s part is one of the toughest and least “wrestling”-like matches here in Beach Club Pro’s short history. Though a handful of throws are present through the match (including Justice Pain delivering a big powerbomb to Honma onto a pile of glass), most of the match consists of the two men trying to gash each other with their glass-covered fists. It works, as only about 6 minutes into the match, both men are bleeding profusely from their heads and chest. At one point, Honma delivers a big powerslam on Pain in the center of the ring, covers his abdomen in loose glass, goes up top and delivers a big double stomp right onto Pain that causes the toughman to yell in pain. He writhes on the ground, but is able to shake off the glass, revealing a handful of new gashes, across his stomach. Around the 12-minute mark, with both men covered head to toe in blood, Justice Pain sent Honma into the ropes and on his rebound, loaded up for glass-covered forearm smash, but Honma ducked it, German suplexed Pain onto glass, rolled him through, picked him up for a piledriver onto the glass, nailed him, and though Pain seemed out of it, Honma didn’t pin him, but instead had a gleam of psychosis in his eye, mounted the prone Pain from behind and started delivering clubbing blows to his back and head like a mad man. After only a few seconds, the referee knocked Honma off Pain and called for the bell. Honma had won by TKO and advanced to the finals of the Death Bracket. Winner (and moving to the Death Bracket Finals): Tomoaki Honma Match 4: Ultimo Guerrero Vs. Gedo Vs. Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Tarzan Boy Vs. Michael Modest 5-Way Scramble (Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament Prelude) This scramble featured the debuts of young Mexican superstar Tarzan Boy and West Coast grappler Michael Modest, but much like the previous week, Naomichi Marufuji stole the show from bell to bell - especially when he focused on the dastardly Gedo. Ultimo Guerrero, finally in singles action also looked stronger than expected, able to mix it up on the mat and in the air with all wrestlers involved. Early on, it was clear that the shared home country between Guerrero and Tarzan Boy worked to their advantage, as the two teamed up often, even adding Gedo occasionally as they continually attempted to take out Marufuji and Modest. Modest got some big powerspots in, including a turnbuckle powerbomb onto Gedo. Marufuji brought speed, precision and strikes throughout and became the focus of the other 4 men’s attacks, though they failed to keep up. Though Gedo eventually slowed him down with a low blow, he was soon clobbered by a big Modest clothesline. Not above taking advantage of the situation, however, Modest picked up Marufuji for what appeared to be a Fisherman Buster, but Marufuji regained consciousness right in time and was able to pull Modest over with a small package and score the surprise 3-count for the victory! Winner: Naomichi Marufuji Match 5: Kendall Windham Vs. Tom Howard World Title Tournament Second Round (Strong Bracket Semi-Final) Kendall Windham entered the arena once again to a huge chorus of boos, having Robert Fuller and CW Anderson in tow did not help his case at all. However, just as they promised the crowd, they only stayed at the entrance, and as Kendall began walking toward the ring, they went to the back to mild applause. Tom Howard entered to huge applause, signaling that many in the crowd were present for his excellent match on the debut BCP show. He looked jacked, with his crew cut, camo pants and shirtless. Howard meant business as he entered the ring and pointed at Windham, who merely smirked. The match, for it’s part, was not nearly as flashy as Howard’s affair with Ishii from two weeks prior, but was worked at a more methodical pace. Windham, seemingly unaware of Howard’s experience with mixed martial arts and grappling, tried to take advantage with his wrestling skill, but Howard was almost always a step ahead, able to maneuver out of almost every hold Windham placed on him. The two did get some nice clubbing strikes in on one another, but Windham realized that he would have to cut corners to stay on top, using everything from backrakes to eye gouges on Howard. Windham was able to dodge a charging Howard in the corner, and used the post to his advantage, doing everything he could to try and knockout Howard. After taking it to the outside, Windham threw Howard into the ringside guardrail, before stomping him in front of booing fans. Back in the ring, Howard was finally able to get an advantage after a missed Windham legdrop attempt. He stretched Windham with innovative submissions, nailed him with two big clotheslines and even got Windham up for a big non-pinning Jackhammer. With Windham dazed and Howard seemingly on the verge of winning, Howard climbed the top rope for his Blockbuster attempt, but as the ref was checking on Windham, suddenly out from the crowd rushed someone in a cowboy hat who pushed Howard off the top rope, who fell hard to the outside! As Windham began to get up, he held the ref against him for support and to block what was happening on the outside, but the man in the cowboy hat began stomping Howard before delivering a big thrust kick right to his face and striking a karate pose. The man rolled a now lifeless Howard back into the ring, where a now standing Windham grabbed Howard in a reverse ddt position, lifted him up high and slammed him down on his head for an elevated version, before he pinned Howard for the 3 count! The crowd booed loudly as Windham’s hand was raised, and out from the back came Robert Fuller and CW Anderson, while up from the ground came the man in the cowboy hat. The man removed his hat as Fuller and Anderson entered and revealed himself to be Jerry Flynn! The man was almost unrecognizable in the cowboy hat and jeans, but his signature thick mullet wasn’t! The 4 men clapped shoulders and laughed as Windham looked at the crowd counting 1, 2, 3. The men begin stomping the fallen Tom Howard, who is helpless in the ring before out runs a Don Frye in his street clothes, who takes out CW Anderson as the rest of the group scampers to the outside. Frye checks on Howard and helps him to the back. Winner (and moving on to the Strong Bracket Finals): Kendall Windham Before the main event, the ring announcer grabbed the microphone and began talking to the crowd: “Ladies and Gentleman, strap yourselves in for our main event! Tonight you are about to see something you have never seen before, something that will define Beach Club Pro as a truly unique promotion.” As he is talking, multiple ring attendants begin walking down the aisle with four, smaller, “old west” styled basic coffins. “Our main event will be a Coffin match, but not just any Coffin match. In each corner, there will be a smaller, basic coffin and in order to win the match, you must stuff your opponent fully into the coffin and lock it. However, unlike other Coffin matches you have seen before - we have decided to up the ante.” The crowd cheers “In coffin 1..” The ring attendants open the first coffin in the ring and show the crowd to gasps, “Any wrestler locked into this coffin will be locked inside with a dozen, real cacti.” “In coffin 2...the wrestler will be locked into a coffin containing spools of barbed wire! In coffin 3...the wrestler will be locked into a coffin with live scorpions!” The crowd gives a loud whooaaaaaa “And finally, in coffin 4...the iron maiden. A coffin that has thousands of thick nails covering the insides.” Main Event: Ricky Banderas Vs. Vampiro World Title Tournament Second Round (Death Bracket Semi-Final) Extreme Coffin Death Match Vampiro enters looking confident in the stipulation. A coffin match is his forte, even with the added complications and prospect of real injury. He glides into the ring to huge cheers and peeks into each coffin as well. As “Si Senor” by Control Machete plays, Ricky Banderas looks a bit less confident, angry at the stipulation that seems to tip in favor of Vampiro. His manager Konnan is less subdued and yells expletive towards the crowd and the promotion at this stipulation. The two men walk down to the ring toward a waiting Vampiro. The match wastes no time getting going, with Vampiro wanting to take advantage early and trying to brawl with Banderas. Though Vampiro has the slight experience edge, he cannot quite brawl like Banderas and is soon overwhelmed. Konnan wastes no time getting involved as well, sending a chair into the ring in the opening minutes. Banderas is quick to use the chair, smashing it across the back of Vampiro, knocking him to the ground. Banderas goes to open the first coffin, this one containing barbed-wire. He picks Vampiro up, but instead of trying to put him into the coffin, he instead puts Vampiro’s head between his legs and lifts him up for a huge powerbomb, driving him into coffin, shattering it into a hundred pieces with the force, as Vampiro’s rolls out, his back a bloody mess of barbed-wire and wood fragments. Banderas poses to the crowd to boos. He picks Vampiro up again to continue the beating, but Vampiro quickly raises his head, bashing Banderas in the jaw, sending him stumbling. Vampiro then grabs the chair and goes to town on Banderas, walloping him across the back twice, and then in the face once, busting Banderas open. As Banderas falls to the ground, Vampiro throws the chair at him, before going up top and nailing Banderas with a top rope leg drop. The match continues as a sloppy brawl for many more minutes, before Vampiro opens the coffin with the cacti. Rather than try and place Banderas in the coffin, he instead uses his taped hands to carefully grab a smaller cactus from the coffin and approaches Banderas. Banderas at the point is exhausted, barely able to move, but shows real fear in his eyes as Vampiro approaches with the cactus. He tries to get out of the ring, but Vampiro is too fast and grabs him. Vampiro then smashes the cactus and all its needles right into the forehead of Banderas. Vampiro backs away as Banderas yells. The cactus falls between his legs, but left in his forehead is about a dozen needles sticking straight out of his forehead. The violence continues and eventually boils over, both men a bloody mess around the 18-minute mark and barely able to stand. Vampiro is able to hit the Nail in the Coffin on Banderas, but doesn’t have the strength to drag him to one of the coffins. With both men standing and sort of flailing strikes at one another, Banderas summons a reserve of strength and delivers a big chokeslam onto debris in the ring, before collapsing. He then rolls over on top of Vampiro, grabbing the nearby cactus and locks him into a cactus-assisted camel clutch, holding it and wrenching it in as Konnan cheers from the sidelines. Banderas looks like a man possessed here, as it is clear that Vampiro is about to pass out. You watch his body sort of do that, followed by Banderas letting go and rolling off. He stands on unsteady legs, but grabs Vampiro by the ankle and drags him toward the cacti-filled coffin once again, before shaking his head and dragging Vampiro toward a different coffin. He gets him there, opens the coffin and reveals it to be the nail-filled one. The crowd gasps, but Banderas has bloodlust in his eyes. He struggles to scoop up the lifeless Vampiro, and Vampiro briefly comes to, fighting back, before Banderas nails him with a flatliner onto the mat. Banderas picks Vampiro up and dumps him into the nail filled coffin as the air is sucked out of the area. Banderas closes the lid and secures the lock for the win! Ring attendants run down the aisle quickly with bolt cutters to break Vampiro out, but Banderas fights the first couple off with Konnan, before exiting the ring themselves. The coffin is eventually busted open and Vampiro removed, with hundreds of new red puncture marks now covering his body. Banderas stands in front of the entrance with his arms raised as Konnan points to him and the show closes. Winner (and moving on to the Death Bracket Final): Ricky Banderas Next Week: The Semi-Finals and Finals of the World Title Tournament as well as more Junior Heavyweight Action! Results: Ace Steel def. Virus, Jado, Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo (11:03) (***¼) Satoshi Kojima def. Steve Williams (18:13) (***3/4) Tomoaki Honma def. Justice Pain (12:14) (**¾) Naomichi Marufuji def. Ultimo Guerrero, Gedo, Tarzan Boy & Michael Modest (11:55) (***½) Kendall Windham def. Tom Howard (15:54) (**½) Ricky Banderas def. Vampiro (19:59) (***¾) Note: Apologies for typos/bad grammar on this one, was rushing (and already late!)

Oh shit

Thanks for all the feedback y’all! For what it’s worth, I’m not working currently with the pandemic and all, but might be starting soon - so graphics will probably lessen at that time!

For Immediate Release August 18, 2000 Contact: Beach Club Pro - (702) 556-5566 Las Vegas, NV - Following the completion of the first round in their World Title Tournament, Beach Club Pro head booker Adrian Street held a conference call with any wrestling media that could dial in. The call was broken up into 3 distinct sections. 1) Contrary to normal protocol, Street expressed deep pleasure with the quality of BCP's first two shows, citing the variety of matches and match quality as being as high wrestling promotion in the world currently. When he was questioned on BCP's physical distribution of their shows, as only short RealVideo clips have made their way onto online filesharing services and message boards, Street didn't have an answer on when wrestling fans around the world would be getting their hands on copies of the shows, but did mention that owner Dennis Rodman and some of the behind the scenes staff were working on it. In reference to the video clips that have already begun circling the internet, he told reporters that he was aware of this phenomenon, though was unsure how it happened, before stating "The response has been pretty good, aye?" A few reporters asked questions about whether Street believes the Death Match style can make it into the mainstream ("Ours can"), if there are any updates on expansion out of Sam's Town ("Hold Tight") and how much of the roster we have yet to see ("Oh, bout two-thirds") 2) Street than promoted this weekend's show, which in addition to the Quarter-Finals of the World Title Tournament will feature two 5-way scramble matches featuring Junior Heavyweight wrestlers, many of which have yet to debut. When asked if Ultimo Dragon or The Great Sasuke would be included in these matches, Street was candid, "Unfortunately, they are still in Japan, but you will see them before too long" A follow-up question asked which mach would main event the show, and while Street didn't give a straight answer, he did state, "Expect it to be one of the most violent main events in wrestling history." 3) Before getting off the call, Street wanted to follow-up on Mr. Rodman's announcement in the ring last weekend about the upcoming Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament. He acknowledged it's ballsy to do another tournament RIGHT after their first, but stated that the energy and speed these competitors will bring will be far from a bore. He also reiterated that the entire tournament would take place over two back-to-back nights on September 5th & 6th. With the NINE first round matches taking place on the first night, and the remaining TEN matches (including the 3-way elimination final) to take place on the second night. He closed by reading out the matchups in the 1st bracket, titled the SEA bracket, and stating there is a printable bracket online on the Beach Club Pro website. The SUN bracket will be revealed next week, and the SAND bracket revealed the the week of the event. -END- BCP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament (Sept. 5th & 6th): SEA Bracket Ultimo Dragon (JP) (First Round Bye) Ultimo Guerrero (MX) Vs. Ricky Marvin (MX) Elix Skipper (US) Vs. Gedo (JP) Michael Modest (US) Vs. Virus (MX)

Talk about Star Power! Me in 2000 would've gone nuts for this show, especially with Hennig getting a shot at the very end. Good work!

Beach Club Pro “World Title Tournament - Night 2” August 15, 2000 Live from Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada Fresh off the well-regarded and groundbreaking debut wrestling show for Beach Club Pro, in which 4 men moved forward in the inaugural World Title Tournament, a nearly sold out crowd was back at Sam’s Town Hotel in Las Vegas for the second show. Already knowing their worth, they chanted to their heart’s content: B C P B C P B C P The crowd had whipped themselves into a frenzy in their anticipation for the hard-hitting, bloody matches. They were sedated when the speakers around the venue crackled to life, followed by IT’S PRIMETIME BABY! The familiar whistles of “Party Up” by DMX roared through the speakers, and the crowd stood at attention, looking toward the entrance, as out walked former WCW cruiserweight Elix Skipper, nodding his head to the beat, while smiling and pointing to the crowd. Though Skipper was still a rookie before WCW’s closure, the crowd seems excited to see him in Beach Club Pro. Skipper held his thumbs out, turned and pointed to the entrance, as out walked Ikuto Hidaka and Naomichi Marufuji. The crowd seemed less familiar with them but the three men shook hands to applause and began their walk to the ring. Match 1: Elix Skipper, Naomichi Marufuji & Ikuto Hidaka Vs. Gedo, Jado & Tatsuhito Takaiwa Tatsuhito Takaiwa walked out from the current to boos, looking as serious and mean as he always does, as the speakers roared with a phrase in broken English - FUCK YOU. WE ARE JADO AND GEDO! The well-known “World Class Tag Team” of Gedo & Jado walked out from behind the curtain to a mixed response, boos as they came out flipping off the crowd, but cheers as the Vegas fans appeared to remember them from their excellent work in ECW. Gedo carried a chair with him down the aisle. The first match of the evening was a perfect showcase of the upcoming Junior division that has been hyped over the last couple of weeks. In a sense, this match was everything great about the best of the WCW Cruiserweight division, with more extreme measures being taken. Takaiwa continued his powerful dominance from last week against Hidaka, even delivering a disgusting release powerbomb into the turnbuckle, seemingly knocking Hidaka out cold. As Takaiwa turned from the fallen Hidaka and raised his arms in the air, he was met with two boots right to the face, from a Marufuji springboard dropkick, knocking him out of the ring. Marufuji was the star here, bouncing around the ring with swift kicks to all 3 of his opponents, before finally being thwarted by a low blow from Gedo & clothesline from Jado on the outside. This left Skipper to take on Gedo & Jado on his own, and though he fought valiantly, the experience of his opponents was too much to overcome, as Gedo was able to hit the Complete Shot, followed by his patented Gedo Clutch for the pinfall. The heroes were defeated, but as they walked to the back, the crowd gave them a standing ovation. Winners: Gedo, Jado & Tatsuhito Takaiwa Match 2: Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger Vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Manabu Nakanishi The second match of the night featured four men who lost on the first BCP show, with Diamond & Swinger trying to show their tag team prowess and make up for their loss against Los Infernales. As the experienced tag team in the match, Diamond and Swinger used some crafty tactics to take the upper hand here and there, but Ishii & Nakanishi, angry at their first round losses were just too aggressive for the American team to handle. It was a battle of craftiness and quick tags vs. brute strength, with the Japanese team seemingly trying to prove themselves against one another. The highlight of the match came with Diamond, after standing toe to toe with Ishii, decided to slap him across the face. Ishii proceeded to rock his world with chops, punches and kicks all the way into the corner, leaving Diamond like a prone animal and cowering in fear. When all was said and done, Nakanishi was able to score the pinfall on Swinger with a monster lariat in the center of the ring. Winners: Tomohiro Ishii & Manabu Nakanishi GET THE FUCK UP The now familiar sounds of “Simon Says” by Pharaohe Monch play over the speakers and the crowd SCREAMS because out from the back comes the owner of Beach Club Pro - Dennis Rodman. “Vegas, how ya feeling?” The crowd continues to applaud “You know, when I came out here to kick off the show last week, I said we were gonna blow your minds and god damn, I think we’ve done it, eh? We got 4 hot matches comin’ up still - but I’m out here to talk about something else. How’d y’all feel about that opener today?” The crowd cheers loudly “Glad y’all liked it. In Beach Club Pro, we wanna provide you with a lil’ bit of everything. We got the power, we got the blood, and baby, we got the flyers. I know most of y’all saw that press release announcing that with the help of Masa Saito over in Japan, we had signed two absolute legends in Ultimo Dragon and The Great Sasuke. And today y’all saw 6 other talents in that opener. Well I’m here to tell you, on September 5th and 6th, we are goin’ ALL JUNIORS baby. The best flyers in the world, the fastest wrestlers you’ve ever seen, they’re comin’ to Vegas for a two night event, right here. Twenty-One men will be included in a tournament to decide the first ever BCP Junior Heavyweight champion. And yeah, I realize that 21 doesn’t make for a perfect tournament bracket - so here’s what we got goin: - There will be three brackets of 7 wrestlers each - Each bracket will have a top seed with a first round “bye” - Those 3 wrestlers with “byes” will be Ultimo Dragon, The Great Sasuke, and the man with two wins to his name already here in BCP - Tatsuhito Takaiwa. - The winner of each bracket will face one another in a 3-way elimination match to determine the champion.” The crowd seems really enthusiastic about this announcement. “BCP will ALWAYS bring you something different. Death matches, heavyweight matches, and things that aren’t gonna be happening anywhere else on this planet. We will reveal one bracket per week until the event, so keep your eyes peeled for that. And tickets for the event go on sale Monday, August 24th - you won’t want to miss it.” “Simon Says” plays again as Rodman exits the ring, shakes hands with the crowd and leaves to the back. Match 3: Tomoaki Honma Vs. Ric Blade World Title Tournament First Round (Death Bracket) Barbed-Wire Board Death Match Prior to the match beginning, a barbed-wire board was set up in each corner of the ring to a rabid reaction from the crowd, chanting for blood. Young japanese deathmatch stalwart Tomoaki Honma entered first to almost no reaction from the fans, this being his first time on US soil. He wore basic blue wrestling trunks to the ring, and though his body was impressive, a closer look revealed scars all up and down his torso. Ric Blade entered to “Blind” by Korn to a huge applause, and though he was working in Las Vegas for the first time, his name and exploits as the Extreme High Flyer had obviously reached the crowd, as they came unglued at his entrance. The match was as violent as the crowd could have hoped for, with two men who didn’t work with a lot of hate in their eyes, but unafraid to hurt themselves or their opponent. The recklessness with which both men worked led to the match being clunky at times, each trying perhaps too hard to be creative with the barbed-wire boards, but ultimately this creativity paid off when Honma won the match by putting Blade on top of a table, putting a barbed-wire board face down on top of him, climbing to the top and hitting a flying headbutt through both boards for the pinfall. Honma stood up to get his hand raised, his face covered in blood and obviously dazed. Though the crowd didn’t know what to make of him at first and were surprised with the result, his performance in the match made it impossible for them to not cheer at the result. Winner: Tomoaki Honma Match 4: Kendall Windham Vs. Don Frye World Title Tournament First Round (Strong Bracket) In a match of conflicting styles, one of the toughest men on the planet, Don Frye, perhaps the favorite to win the World Title tournament faced off with the lesser-known Windham. Frye, due to his popularity with the UFC, especially in and around Las Vegas, got one of the biggest pops of the night, though he pretended not to hear it, rather stalking down to the ring in all black trunks, boots and thick mustache. Windham went back to his roots with his look, donning a vest and cowboy hat, as well as red trunks and adapted cowboy boots to wrestle in. Windham received loud boos from the crowd. The match itself was not much, with Windham circling Frye, who for 3 minutes continually tried to tackle his legs. The two did tie up at one point, with Frye throwing haymakers, and Windham throwing convincing ones back. However, around the 5-minute mark, none other than “The Tennessee Stud” Robert Fuller walked out, in his full white cowboy getup. Though he didn’t make his intentions obvious at first, he wound up distracting the referee right as Frye grabbed a rear naked choke on Windham. Though Windham tapped almost immediately, the submission was broken suddenly by a diving CW Anderson! Anderson punted Frye right in the head, knocking him loopy before diving out of the ring. In the confusion, Windham was able to recover, stomp Frye a few times on the ground, pick him up like dead weight, place his head between his legs and execute the Powerbomb O’Doom (slingshot powerbomb). Frye looked knocked out, and Windham pinned him lazily, while posing for the crowd to huge boos. Windham left the perhaps concussed Frye in the ring, walked up the aisle and was joined at the entrance by Fuller and Anderson, who held their arms up to the crowd to deafening boos. Winner: Kendall Windham Match 5: “Sick” Nick Mondo Vs. Ricky Banderas (w/ Konnan) World Title Tournament First Round (Death Bracket) Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match In perhaps the most anticipated match of the entire first round of the tournament, Ricky Banderas and Nick Mondo showed exactly what death match wrestling in the year 2000 should look like. The undersized Mondo had the crowd behind him the whole way and he did everything he could to use the weapons around the ring for his benefit. Though Konnan got involved frequently, hitting Mondo each time Banderas threw him out of the ring, Mondo’s never-say-die attitude allowed for him to kick out about a dozen pinfall attempts through the match. Banderas, for his part, was brutal. He wasn’t overly creative with the weapons, but he used his size and strength to his advantage in his attempt to murder his opponent. In a particularly shocking series, Banderas threw Mondo like a lawn dart straight into a ladder in the corner, deadlifted him into a brutal backdrop onto a folded chair, and then picked him up and gave him a piledriver on that same chair. Mondo, for his part, bloodied Banderas up with an Arabian Facebuster and was able to put him through a table with a senton, amongst other things. By around the 14-minute mark, both guys were covered in blood, much to the crowd’s pleasure. The match ended in a moment that will be talked about for years. After stomping the hell out of Mondo in the corner, Banderas asked Konnan to set up a table on the outside. Banderas lifted the smaller Mondo onto the top turnbuckle, slowly climbed it himself, and pulled Mondo up. The two caught their balance, and then Banderas made a throat slit motion to the crowd, grabbed Mondo by the throat, lifted him for a chokeslam and threw him to the outside, through the table and onto the concrete below. Mondo landed with a sickening thud as Banderas collapsed back into the ring, leaving the crowd astonished at what they had just seen. After taking in the scene, the referee went to the outside to check on Mondo, as Banderas slowly used the ropes to pull himself up. Banderas leaned over the ropes and looked at the scene below, when a sick smile crossed his face. The referee decided that Mondo could no longer continue and called for the bell - Banderas winning by knockout. The room felt like the air had been sucked out, until someone from the crowd yelled HOLY FUCK This got a laugh from the crowd, but they then proceeded to chant through the whole arena. Banderas raised his arms to a mixed reaction, though Konnan got heavy boos. After they headed to the back, medics were able to help Mondo up, and though it took time, he was able to walk to the back on his own. Winner: Ricky Banderas Main Event: “Hawaiian Tornado” Maunakea Mossman Vs. “Strongest Arm” Satoshi Kojima World Title Tournament First Round (Strong Division) If the crowd thought the previous match couldn’t be topped, they were proven wrong in the main event as Maunakea Mossman and Satoshi Kojima took almost the entirety of the 30-minute time limit to show why they were considered 2 of the toughest, hardest-hitting men in Japan. It was a battle of holds early on, with Mossman’s amateur background putting him on top, though Kojima was able to hold his own. Each man was able to hit hard strikes and a suplex or two, but they spent a lot of time jockeying for position, testing each other’s skills. After being stood back up, Mossman was able to connect with one high kick to the head that knocked Kojima to ground and could have knocked him out if it was just a touch more solid. That woke Kojima up, and after he shook out the cobwebs, he fired up. For the last 15-minutes of the match, the two did their best impression of the legendary King’s Road style, repeatedly dropping each other on their heads, firing up, smashing each other with chops, lighting up each other’s chests and more. The end stretch saw Kojima drop Mossman with a tornado ddt, and while he signaled to the crowd he was going to set up for the Cozy Lariat, Mossman popped up and threw Kojima with a release german suplex. Kojima also immediately stood up, signaled for the lariat, but Mossman went for one at the same time, with both men colliding but not going down. They clothesline each other again with the same result and then go for a third time, but Kojima hooks Mossman’s arm, spins him around and kicks him in the back, which sends Mossman stumbling into the ropes, Kojima runs and hits him with a lariat against the ropes, sends him with an Irish whip across the ring, and meets him with a fully cocked Cozy Lariat, finally knocking Mossman (and himself) down. Kojima covered Mossman for the 3-count and the win! Kojima was so exhausted, he had to rely on the referee to help prop him up, but he raised an arm in celebration to huge cheers from the crowd, closing the show. Winner: Satoshi Kojima Next week, the second round of the World Title Tournament! Tom Howard Vs. Kendall Windham Steve Williams Vs. Satoshi Kojima Justice Pain Vs. Tomoaki Honma Vampiro Vs. Ricky Banderas More! Results: Gedo, Jado & Tatsuhito Takaiwa def. Elix Skipper, Naomichi Marufuji & Ikuto Hidaka (8:33) (***¼) Tomohiro Ishii & Manabu Nakanishi def. Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger (9:48) (**¾) Tomoaki Honma def. Ric Blade (11:50) (***¼) Kendall Windham def. Don Frye (6:34) (**) Ricky Banderas def. Nick Mondo (18:16) (***¾) Satoshi Kojima def. Maunakea Mossman (29:12) (****¼)

Having one of my favorite wrestlers of the 90s (Dean) with one of my least (Hunter) has me screwing up my face, but I’m glad Dean wasn’t made to be a scrub. I’m also glad to see Viscera still getting some “screen” time here as I have a big soft spot for him. It’s interesting to see your title booking strategies as anything but ordinary (fan vote, elimination, etc). Not the way I book usually, but it’s very “of the time” which is clever and works for the talent/vibe.