All-Star Championship Wrestling

Introduction
The third episode of All-Star Academy SHOWCASE transpired this past Monday, and the ACW (All-Star) Arena was once again the host. This time, though, only to 632 fans. A slight dip from the previous episode, but Joe Bishop didn't seem to think it was any cause for worry. In his capacity as Chief of the Academy, Bishop thanked the fans for making it for the show and announced that the previous two episodes of SHOWCASE had generated enough online buzz which meant a development of a DVD was currently in the works. The cheers from the crowd grew louder when Joe Bishop revealed that the main event would feature two of their favourites duking it out; Orlando Grant against John Sarsgaard. Hyping up the talent of the students, Bishop promised an episode to remember before letting the wrestlers take over the spotlight.

Peter Phoenix vs. JP Boudreau
JP Boudreau, being French-Canadian and all, was given the most resounding of backings of the hometown fans as he squared up against long-time pitfighter Peter Phoenix. Phoenix's unique style (choosing to wrestle barefoot being the standout) made the Australian, relatively new to the world of professional wrestling, a real challenge for JP Boudreau and his mat technician background in the early going of the match. It took JP nearly two minutes to finally halt Peter Phoenix's seemingly relentless assault; after surviving various deadly leg attacks from Phoenix, JP regained a sembelance of control of the match with a thunderous flying shoulder tackle!
That seemed to spark a fire within JP Boudreau, who narrowed his focus of attack on Phoenix's gangly legs. The so-called Warrior from Down Under wised up though, as he switched his tactics to resemble something of a boxing-oriented stance...especially after getting caught in a Figure Four Leglock and barely reaching the ropes. The change once again got JP Boudreau frustrated, and after stunning JP with a elbow strike / right hook combo, Peter Phoenix caught his Canadian adversary with an overhead bicyle kick. 1-2-3, and the pitfighter from Down Under notched up an impressive victory. After the match, Joe Bishop came out and attempted to interview Peter Phoenix. Surprisingly, the Warrior from Down Under produced a note from inside his red fighting shorts and handed it over to Bishop. Bemused, Bishop opened the note tentatively and announced that Peter Phoenix was actually a mute. For his part, Phoenix waved to the crowd excitedly as he made his way back to his locker room, drawing warm cheers from several pockets of fans in the process.
Winner: Peter Phoenix

Musings from a surly German
In what was a slight departure from the norm as far as the last two episode of SHOWCASE were concerned, the fans found themselves joined by Ulf German. Of course, Ulf German had nothing nice to say about the fans or Montreal. In fact, Ulf German continued his tirade about the French and the Canadians were -- to him, at least and at the current moment in time -- the most irritating people in the world. Ulf German went on to wax poetic about how women in Canada were comparable to donkey manure, and promised to educate the fans on why German women were the real deal.
Unfortunately for Ulf, newcomer and cruiserweight Vick Victory interrupted his spiel by saying that Ulf German needed to get his eyes checked. Vick picked out two young Canadian teenage girls and commended them on being 'pants-tighteningly gorgeous', which drew a roar of approval from the crowd (most of them being horny men and whatnot). Ulf German, cheesed off that he was interrupted, told Vick Victory that he'd soon rather wear a dress rather than ever articulate that German women were inferior. Despite his crushing loss on the second edition of SHOWCASE, the young upstart decided to challenge Ulf German to a match. A handicapped match, at that -- and that if Ulf German lost, he'd have to make a very public address dedicated to insulting German women on the next episode. Indignant, Ulf accepted and advised Vick to prepare a lengthy stay in the hospital!

Nika Joosta vs. Haley Mulligan
Continuing the trend of showcasing up-and-comers from all over the world, two female wrestlers took the stage next for their first ever outing as Academy students. Nika Joosta, a 4-year professional hailing from the Netherlands, took on the very young Haley Mulligan from England. Haley was announced as having only a year's worth of professional wrestling under her belt, and it was therefore interesting for the fans to watch her stand her ground against her more formiddable and physically imposing opponent.
Nika, as expected, started the contest with much gusto... easily overpowering the young English lassie. However, Haley wasn't going to be ran over just like that and after kicking out of a harsh spinebuster, Haley managed to counter a suplex attempt from Nika into a beautifully-executed fisherman's suplex for a 2-count. From there, Haley Mulligan zipped around the ring and unleashed her arsenal of high-flying offense on the slightly beleagured Joosta. A missile dropkick from the top turnbuckle four minutes into the contest saw Haley earn yet another close count, but Nika quickly recovered and downed her young adversary with a un-ladylike headbutt. Feeling confident, Nika raised Haley up for what seemed to be an attempt at a brainbuster, but the Dutchwoman instead brought Haley down onto the ropes! The crowd watched as Nika slowly ascended to the top of the nearby turnbuckle, and feared for the still motionless for the young English lassie. Nika wasted some time heckling pockets of the fans that had started to jeer her, and by the time she took flight for what seemed to be a legdrop aimed at the back of Haley's neck... the latter had recovered and jumped down from the ropes to the arena floor. Nika landed awkwardly on the ring, much to the fans' delight. Haley Mulligan quickly composed herself and slid into the ring, catching her recovering opponent by surprise with a roll-up.
And to make things worse for Nika, the young English lassie actually held on to the middle rope during the referee's count! 1-2-3, and Haley Mulligan pulled off the upset. Haley darted out of the ring quickly after that, leaving Nika Joosta fuming in defeat. The fans cheered for Haley's win despite her cheating, and the young lady curtseyed for the fans in acknowledgement.
Winner: Haley Mulligan

Vick Victory & Mister Brewster vs. Ulf German
Ulf German came out first for this match that was made earlier on the episode, and he expressed once again his disdain at being interrupted. He warned all the other students never to make that mistake again, before calling out Vick Victory to bring out whatever partner he could conjure up. Vick Victory did indeed come out with a partner, one that some of the older folk in the crowd recognised as being a 20-year veteran of the industry: Mister Brewster! Vick Victory revealed that Brewster was the one that helped to train him, and since his mentor was looking for new challengees... the All-Star Academy got itself another excellent addition to the roster!
Ulf German merely remained silent and motioned for the contest to begin. As expected, the bigger-sized and tank-like Brewster kicked off proceedings against German, who suddenly found himself being matched blow-by-blow for the first time in perhaps a very long time! Just as Ulf thought he may have carved out an advantage over Brewster, the latter tagged in his young protege and Victory went to town on Ulf with a series of hit-and-run attacks to the legs and the spine of the despised German. And once he was done, Vick quickly tagged back Mister Brewster in. This series of swift alternating attacks and even swifter attacks lasted for a minute and a half without any sort of answer from Ulf German, and when Mister Brewster somehow managed to hit a pump-handle slam on Ulf... it looked all over.
Except, of course, for Vick Victory putting the exclaimation mark with a scintillating frog splash to cap the match off! 1-2-3, and the duo of Vick Victory and Mister Brewster had triumped. Ulf German now had until the next episode of SHOWCASE to come up with a speech about how German women were inferior to any woman found in North America. A great rebound for Vick Victory considering he was mauled in his first outing several weeks ago, and the tandem of him and Brewster looked extremely effective against the usually immovable Ulf German.
Winners: Vick Victory & Mister Brewster

Ramping up the hype for END GAME 2009
The fans in attendance then got a very special treat in the form of a hype video for ACW's upcoming SuperShow; END GAME 2009. Seeing how the crowd were a mix of old and new, it was only fitting that the hype video focused on the 2/3 Falls Match for the ACW World Heavyweight Title from the END GAME 2002 pay-per-view, which featured Osyrus challenging SilverHAWK in a classic throwdown. The video also revealed that this year's SuperShow edition would definitely play host to some of the industry's most sensational superstars and free agents!

John Sarsgaard vs. Orlando Grant
It was finally time for the main event showdown between the two men who'd won the 10-Men Battle Royale on the previous episode of All-Star Academy SHOWCASE, and the fans were on their feet for this one. Both men were fan favourites, and shook hands right before the bell rung to assure the crowd that they were going to witness a great match between two consummate professionals. The early stages of the match show both men feeling each other out with tie-ups and wristlocks, but a vicious spinning back elbow by Sarsgaard put the man with the hands of steel firmly in the driver's seat. But just as John started to impose himself with his considerable size advantage, Orlando whipped out a spinning wheel kick literally out of nowhere, and that desperate gambit earned him a very near fall. The OG of ACW picked up the pace a little bit, countering John Sarsgaard's pounding assaults with his pace and his agility. Orlando got in trouble when he attempted a cross body block off the top of the turnbuckle, as John moved out of the way and punished Orlando with a bridging German suplex!
Orlando barely kicked out of that, and found himself worse for wear when he was whipped right into a corner turnbuckle face first. Lucky for OG, he shook off the cobwebs just as John Sarsgaard signalled for his finisher (the Windy City Slice) and pulled off a very impressive snap backbreaker after sweeping John's legs and locking in a Cobra Clutch submission -- a.k.a. The Shoutout! Unfortunately, it was not to be as John somehow managed to get his leg on the bottom rope. The fans were riveted by this point, though, and cheered on the two warriors to keep up their wonderful showing. After more back and forth action, John Sarsgaard finally managed to wear Orlando down following a particularly vicious clothesline... and seconds later, the Hands of Steel put OG down for good with his Windy City Slice finisher. 1-2-3, and John Sarsgaard prevailed after 17 minutes of breathtaking action from two future superstars of wrestling.
Winner: John Sarsgaard

Aftermath
Both men recovered after their classic match to a thunderous applause, and in a further show of sportsmanship, hugged each other. That touching moment was swiftly interrupted by the imposing figure of Jack Harris... and accompanying Harris was a shiny steel chair, which he proceeded to first incapacitate Sarsgaard with a sickening smack to the back of the knees. Orlando went down with Sarsgaard, and the OG of ACW found himself knocked out for the second time in the space of mere minutes as Harris brought the steel chair down on Grant's head.
Needless to say, the fans jeered their hearts out, but Jack Harris was not done. Grabbing a microphone, the Chancellor of Excellence proclaimed (barely understandable Pikey accent and all) that destroying John and Orlando was merely a stepping stone for him graduating from the Academy and joining the ranks of the true elite. As the episode came to an end, Jack Harris shot a challenge to the rest of the students of the Academy; beat him, or suffer being beaten like never before!

Conclusion
The fans went home happy for the third episode in a row, proving that the wealth of talent in the Academy -- a fascinating blend of fresh-faced and hardworking rookies to stars quickly working their way up the ladder and even including a couple of experienced veterans looking to get back to the swing of things -- was a goldmine just waiting to be further cultivated. Joe Bishop expressed his delight at how each match had hooked the fans in its own way, and SilverHAWK praised the fact that the All-Star Academy was building up a universe of its own in such a short time and with everything coming together rather naturally. Once again a success on many fronts, SHOWCASE was indeed proving to be a showcase of wonderful talent. It was suggested that there would be at least two more episodes put out by the Academy in the month of November, with a further four episodes scheduled for December.

Reported by:
Sally Broxton
ACW Correspondent
12 November 2009