One Fall
CHAPTER 15
Taken from www.wrestlinghotline.com
Greetings slugs.
Today is Tuesday, May 2nd, and this is your Tuesday Morning Hangover, where our headaches aren’t caused by freak wrestling accidents.
My fellow slugs, as I write this, it’s five A.M. and I haven’t slept all night. Judging by the activity on the boards, I know I’m not alone. For those of you who weren’t shooting the midnight black with the rest of us, here’s a recap of the night’s activity on the net.
10:56 pm, On GWA Burn, Joey Mayhem superkicks Goliath in their main event championship matchup, sending Goliath to the floor and the crowd to its feet.
10:57 pm, Goliath has been down for almost a minute and the fast-paced match takes on a decidedly ‘What’s going on?’ turn.
10:58 pm, Matrix Bob puts up this post on the Hotline Newsboard: “Does anyone else think Goliath might be out cold?”
10:59 pm, Goliath hasn’t moved for more than two minutes, the match has broken down, Matrix Bob’s post has 11 responses attached, and everyone watching knows something is wrong.
11:00 pm, Dr. Ernie Trott runs in from the back, waves Joey away from Goliath, and calls in the EMTs. Referee Nick Gaugin breaks character and stands up like he was never knocked out during the match.
11:04 pm, the EMTs load Goliath into the ambulance and drive out of the arena. The match was never declared finished, and no winner was announced.
11:05 pm, Burn goes off the air. The final shot is of the ambulance driving away.
11:35 pm, GWA.com posts a mysterious message in the headlines section reading, “Goliath was injured in his match with Joey Mayhem and was taken to a nearby hospital for observation.”
11:30pm - 12:00am, the Hotline Newsboard lights up, with a record 7800 posts in an hour. Fierce debate erupts as to whether or not the ending of Burn was a work.
12:10am, Chandler Dresby of Wrestlingdailytribune.com reports that Goliath is at Houston General and is under observation for head trauma. He does not give a source for his information. The online debate about the legitimacy of the injury continues. One camp swears the injury was real, noting that the finish to the match didn’t make any sense. Another camp says that the injury would make for the perfect swerve and would allow the GWA to stretch the Goliath / Joey Mayhem feud all the way to the next pay per view. A third camp argues that the injury was a “worked shoot,” i.e. the GWA will pretend that the injury was real even though it was fake. I will weigh in with my own opinion later in the column.
12:30am, Houston-area fans are posting sightings of wrestlers at Houston General. Joey Mayhem, Jade Sleek, Deep Six, and Lord Mayberry have been seen by fans in or around Houston General Hospital. The online debate leans toward the injury being legitimate.
2:00am, the Hotline Newsboard finally starts to quiet down as east-coasters hit the hay. The Net is close to agreement that tonight’s finish was real.
4:30am, GWA.com reports that Goliath is under observation for head trauma, confirming what Chandler Dresby reported earlier in the night. The posters on the Hotline Newsboard (and there were still a lot of them, even at this late hour) have the proof they need.
And that brings us here. The sun is about to come up as I write this. I hope to have it on the site in 3 hours or less, so we’d better get going.
Ratings Report:
GWA Burn pulled an overall 4.7, with a 4.5 in the first hour, a 4.8 in the second hour, and a 4.8 in the overrun. For the second week in a row, the numbers are up, and last night’s Burn was the highest rated so far this year.
Revolution Riot got an overall of 4.9, with a 4.9 in the first hour, a 5.0 in the second, and a 4.8 in the overrun. More on that later, first...
The High Points:
GWA Burn - Well, where do you put it? On the one hand, last night’s main event has already taken on an historic feel. On the other hand, the match itself was nothing special, ending with a non-finish. Either way, I’m going to call the odd main event a high point just because it has everyone talking.
Revolution Riot - Scott Rollins. Wow. Didn’t see that one coming. They’ve got to be a little disappointed that last night’s Burn generated so much buzz when they had a big buzz point themselves. Scott Rollins, formerly known in the GWA as Crusader, made a surprise entrance in the second hour, interrupting Lucifer’s promo, and throwing himself right into the main event scene.