#challenge champion el event

[elbdot]

THE POKEMON TOURNAMENT IS OVER THE 3DS SERVERS ARE DOWN

4 WEEKS OF BATTLING 42 CHALLENGERS 68 BATTLES AGAINST ME

If you wanna know WHO WON, I published the results in an openly available post on Patreon! THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO PARTICIPATED!!! This was a REALLY special event and I'm so glad so many people stayed until the VERY END to trade and battle with me and my community until the servers shut down!

I WILL MISS THE ONLINE FUNCTIONS, it feels like the end of an era 😭 Not to mention there was something quite poetic about the servers of Sun and Moon going down on the day of an Eclipse... My Patrons helped me hack my 3DS so maybe we get to enjoy servers run by the Pokemon homebrewing community one day, who knows ;w;

Also thank you to everyone who gifted me a special Pokemon via trade!! I gave out little Joltiks in the end as a participation price, each one named "Nugget" with the same nature and Compound Eyes ;w; Hope you all take good care of your little Nuggets!! Thanks for joining the event :D

[butterflyintochains]

Legacies And Love Stories

Summary: Adriana Fangio is 23 years old, and is the youngest grandchild of the five time world champion, El Maestro, Juan-Manuel Fangio. She's been slowly working her way up through karting and single seaters her whole life, winning glory at home in Argentina since she was a kid. All in the hopes of getting that precious seat in her beloved abuelo's sport. So, when Formula 1 announce their eleventh team, everything changes for her.

In more ways than just one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

London, February 2025

God, this city is huge, bigger than Buenos Aires for sure. The flight from the sun-kissed summer of home to the rainy winter of London for the unveiling and team announcement was agonizingly long. But, she's had a couple of days to sleep it off. It was her 23rd birthday a couple of weeks ago. Now, today is the day where she finally gets to make her abuelo proud of her. She's ready to go at last, and slides abuelo's signet ring onto her index finger. The contract was nice, four years at 20 million. She'll be the first woman to have a permanent seat in Formula 1, she's sure her grandfather is smiling down on her today. She'll even be racing for his team and engine supplier. Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Finally, Adriana gets in her car to the O2 Arena. She'll meet her teammate there, it seems. ''Nice ring, miss, where did you get it?'' Her driver asks.

Adriana smiles, and says. ''It was my grandfather's.'' She never leaves home without it, it's the one thing she wanted most when she started driving. To have him with her. The drive goes by in silence, and she's dropped off behind the arena. The event manager comes to greet her. ''Welcome to the grid, Miss Fangio, it's been hard keeping this under wraps.'' The contract has been a secret from the media, and from most of the other teams, mostly to keep the heat off of her. She signed over Christmas.

Adriana shakes his hand, trying not to be nervous, and probably failing miserably. ''I can imagine.'' He leads her inside, and into the drivers' area backstage. All twenty-two drivers are here today, and all eleven cars will be unveiled. They'll be unveiled in reverse order to last year's constructors, with Alfa Romeo going last as the newest team. She looks for the other driver in an Alfa Romeo jacket. ''Adri?'' A Brazilian accent says.

Adriana is relieved to find him at last. ''Feli! Finally.'' They raced against each other in karts as kids, and have been friends ever since. ''Finally got a seat, about time.'' Adriana says to Felipe.

Felipe hands her some water. ''And, so did you! Abuelo must be so proud!''

Lance Stroll asks, still somehow wearing that green jacket. ''Who are you? And, how are you here?'' Some of the other drivers look to her, clearly thinking the same thing. ''My name is Adriana Fangio, and I'm here to drive for Alfa Romeo.''

The event starts, and the teams slowly whittle down as the driver lineups and cars are revealed. Then, finally, the newest team is revealed. Giancarlo Fisichella will be in charge of them, he announces the drivers. Felipe Drugovich - finally being given a proper seat in the sport. And, Adriana Fangio - racing royalty driving for her abuelo's team. David Coulthard says to Adriana. ''Adriana, you are making history, how excited are you to get going in Melbourne?''

Adriana says, turning her grandfather's ring on her finger. ''Very excited, looking forward to giving these boys a bit of a challenge. Can't wait to get in this car soon.''

Felipe adds, done with his questions tonight. ''I can't wait to get to Imola and see the factory.''

The event ends, and everyone goes backstage to hang out. Felipe and Adriana are taken aside to be given their new paddock passes, and to be asked about their driver numbers. ''I've had 34 for ages, so I'm keeping it.'' The woman types that into her tablet, and says after a second or so. ''Great, Miss Fangio, what about you?''

Adriana says, thinking of her abuelo's race wins. ''24 - for the races my abuelo won.'' Zhou isn't using it, so it's free now. The woman types that up, and says. ''That's great.'' Then, they're released back to the rest of the grid. Adriana finally relaxes, George adds her to the group chat as well. Finally, she's made it here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bahrain - Preseason Testing

This is actually happening, and it's happening to her. She can tell that some of the guys are giving her weird looks as they leave the hotel for testing day. But, she has Felipe next to her, and abuelo looking over her. It is funny, in a weird way, women can't drive on the street here, and she's testing her F1 car today. They arrive in the paddock, and are led to their base. All in maroons, black, and white. Fisichella greets them both happy this afternoon. As does Felipe's engineer, Eduardo. And, Adriana's engineer, Pietro. Their head of race strategy, Francesca, sits them down in the briefing room. They get the lowdown on what's expected of them today, and go to their driver's rooms. Adriana changes into her racing gear, and goes through some exercises with the physio team. She and Felipe get into their garages, surrounded by their teams. ''Okay, Adriana, we're going for ten laps and one pitstop double stack. Then, if you two are comfortable, we can do another run.''

Adriana nods, and puts her earplugs in, then slips her balaclava on before her helmet. ''Sounds good to me, Pietro.'' She pulls her gloves on, and gets in the car. Her heart racing already. Felipe takes to the track first, and Adriana follows him. The car feels great, turns like a dream, and is just perfect so far. She gets in four good laps. ''How is it feeling, Adriana?'' Pietro asks.

Adriana says, turning down into the main straight. ''Feels great, perfectly balanced on the corners, tires are holding up well. How's Felipe doing?''

Pietro says. ''He's reporting the same as you, actually.'' They're joined by the Sauber and Williams cars towards the end of their stint. They finish their stint, and return to the garage. ''Good job, Adriana, welcome to the grid.'' Fisichella says over her radio. Smiling in her helmet, she says. ''Thank you, Fisi.''

After another briefing, they go in search of lunch, finding some of the others sitting around a table. ''Saw some of your laps, those cars are so good already.'' George says.

Felipe grins, swigging from his water flask. ''Gonna be an interesting season, don't you think so, Adri?'' Adriana gets back with her burrito salad, and says. ''Yeah, I'm already in love with the car. I tried the Academy cars last year, they're so slow compared to this.''

Max says, finishing his lunch. ''Gonna be fun seeing what you're both capable of, about time there was an eleventh team. Glad you two got the new seats.'' That means the world, the high praise from the four-time world champion. Adriana and Felipe are called for some photos and interviews. Then, it's back to the hotel for tomorrow.

After testing finishes, the now twenty-two drivers are taken for this year's group photo. Upon seeing it, a wave of pride hits Adriana, she's enshrined in history forever now. And, even better, Felipe finally has a permanent seat of his own! They get to do this together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Australia - First Race

Her heart is in her mouth right now, her first qualifying run of her career. She's in the car, reading her data sheets again, for what must be the hundredth time today. Then, on go the gloves and steering wheel. Felipe is sent out first, and she follows him right after. Time to rock the world together as they said they would all those years ago. Five drivers will be knocked out in the new Q1 system. Felipe gets an amazing overtake on Nico Hulkenberg going into Sector two, and Adriana speeds past both Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon on their third lap. Pietro comes over her radio. ''Well done, Adriana, that's you and Felipe into Q2. Three tenths down on the Alpines.''

Adriana says, relieved to be in this with Felipe. ''That's great, very pleased with that.''

Next, comes their first Q2 as a team, they get out onto the track for their laps. This time, Adriana is ahead of Felipe, and hunting down some pace against Jack Doohan. ''You are two tenths down on Stroll, Felipe is one tenth down on you, keep going.'' Adriana gets the overtake, and makes it stick. She sees the green in her mirror replaced by maroon as they come down the straight. ''That's Q3 for you both, we are a tenth down on Alonso.'' Pietro says.

At the end of Q3, Felipe will be starting eighth, and Adriana is starting tenth. After qualifying, they go for media. ''Adriana, first race weekend, and to put your car on P10, how does that feel?'' Someone asks her.

Adriana swallows some water, and says. ''It's amazing, everything I've ever wanted, and for Felipe to start eighth is such a boost for us. Excited for tomorrow to see what we can do in the real race.'' Felipe joins her in the media pen, and someone asks them both. ''You two are of such different backgrounds, how will that impact this pairing?''

Felipe just says to the journalist. ''It won't, we've been friends for years. This Alfa Romeo lineup is going to be strong.'' Adriana laughs, and smiles up at Felipe. Something happening in her stomach that hasn't happened since their junior days. Something she hoped she'd gotten over by now.

The race begins the following afternoon, and both Alfa Romeo drivers are excited for it, starting near the front, ready to rock the world together. Adriana can see Felipe from her starting place, and focuses on the lights. She gets a good start, and sticks by both Alonso and Felipe for the opening stint of the race, Oliver Bearman in her mirrors for six laps until she finally makes the pass on Alonso when he goes to pit. On lap 27, she comes in to get rid of her hards in favour of mediums, coming out in 15th. ''The gap to Albon is three seconds, keep your head down.'' Pietro says.

Adriana finally gets her DRS open, and jumps on the throttle to pass Albon for 14th. ''Good overtake, Adriana, next car up is Colapinto in the RB. Gap is six tenths.''

After another tire change on lap 38, Adriana comes out in 13th, just outside the points. ''Where's Felipe?''

Pietro says. ''In ninth, keep on going, final stint.'' The laps tick down to 58, and Adriana comes home in 12th, one place shy of her first points. But, she's here! ''That's p12, Adriana, well done, and welcome to F1.'' Giancarlo comes over her radio. ''And, P9 for Felipe.'' Adriana chuckles while she does her cool-down lap. ''First points on debut for the team, that was such a good race.''

After the race and media, she meets up with Felipe. ''Congrats on the points, Feli!'' She hugs him.

Felipe smiles, looking slightly surprised with himself. ''Thank you, Adri, here we are, I suppose?''

Adriana nods, their arrival into the sport finally hitting her, they've arrived now, and there's no going back. ''Here we are.'' Who would've thought?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

China - First Points

Ten laps to go, she's in eighth place right now, Felipe is apparently down in eleventh. she's the best of the rest, with Carlos Sainz in his Williams breathing down her neck. She swallows some of her energy drink, and keeps her focus on the road ahead of herself. Abuelo looking down on her, guiding her hands as she steers. This is perhaps the most stressed she's ever been, especially after coming fourteenth in the sprint yesterday. But, she's got ten laps to get this done, and a race winner in her mirrors. Pietro comes through her radio, telling her. ''Gap to Sainz is four tenths right now, Adriana, you'll get DRS next lap down the main straight, keep forward, alright?''

Adriana says, voice tight from the anxiety of it. ''Yeah, what's my gap to Antonelli?''

Pietro says, after a second to check the screens. ''Nine tenths, but we're not concerned with him.''

Adriana gets to ticking this lap down, with nine laps to go, she gets her wing open, and opens the gap to Sainz for some much needed breathing room. The blue in her rear view turns to green quickly. ''Who is that, Pietro?''

Pietro informs her. ''That is Alonso, the gap is seven tenths, no need to worry.'' Alonso? One of her childhood heroes? She's about to outscore Fernando Alonso? Who just so happens to be driving a Newey car? Her lucky day. Eight laps left, then seven, then six. ''Six laps left, Adriana, keep it in the lines, and we'll be home safe soon.'' Pietro says.

She keeps focused on the track, no panic in her body at all for the first time since her overtakes on Gasly and Bearman ten laps ago. She's still got that Mercedes up in front of herself, but she's been advised not to do anything rash, so she'll leave it alone. Four laps, three laps, two laps. Then, somehow, she's on her last lap. ''Final lap, Adriana, keep pushing.'' Pietro says as she goes into the switchback. Then, she's halfway through her lap, now with Lawson's Red Bull in her mirrors. Where did he come from? No matter, four points sit in her sights. She rounds the final corner, and takes the flag. ''That's P8, Adriana! Four points in your second race! Felipe in tenth!'' Fisichella says.

Adriana is speechless, six points for the team! ''Vamos!! Vamos, Alfa Romeo! That was for abuelo! Two points finishes for Felipe too, tell him I'm happy for him!''

Fisichella laughs, and says. ''Will do, Adriana.''

In parc ferme, Adriana gets out of her car, and gets her hans and helmet off, balaclava with it, before running to Felipe in tears. He holds her, and says. ''I'm so proud of you.'' She's shaking, he just holds her. They go to the team, arm in arm. Sure, it's not a win, or a podium, but baby steps. Just as they walk back to the garage, the clouds clear for the sun. Adriana stops in her tracks to watch the clouds clear. ''Adri?'' Felipe asks her.

Adriana smiles. ''He's proud of us both, Feli.'' They get back to their drivers rooms, some mate already brewed for Adriana to take into media. She gets into the media pen with her gourd of mate, and is met by Franco and Gabriel first. ''That was amazing, Adri.'' Franco says.

Adriana smiles, her face hurting already, and says. ''Thank you, Franquito.''

Gabriel hugs her with one arm, and says. ''Enjoy this one, Adri, you've earned it.''

Adriana says, promising her friend and fellow rookie. ''So will you, Gabi.'' She's called for a quick interview with Sky, basking in this first point finish. Jenson says to her. ''Adriana, that was incredible, first points for you. You must be so happy.''

Adriana sips her mate, and says. ''I am, still shaking from it actually, and having both of us get points is even more special. Felipe and I want to do this together, and share in each other's happiness.''

After media is over, Adriana retreats to her drivers room, and gets some physio before going for a shower and eating something in the Alfa Romeo motor-home. Felipe joins her, they share a smile together, and link pinkies as they did when they were kids. Excited for Japan already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Japan - The Alfa Romeo Tango

Lap 40 in Suzuka is going well for them both, this purple patch Alfa Romeo are in has lasted into the first three races. They're in the middle pack of the points contenders. Staring at the rear ends of both Alpine drivers. After a beautiful double stack for mediums, Adriana and Felipe are side by side, with both Haas drivers in their rear view. Doohan dives down the pitlane, and both Alfa Romeos get themselves either side of Gasly. Eduardo comes over Felipe's radio, sounding nervous about this manoeuver. ''Felipe, what are you two up to now?''

Felipe just chuckles, and says. ''Something we discussed after practice, that's all.'' The commentators must be going insane at there being three cars across the track, but, there won't be in a moment. They'll get their rear wings open soon, and take ninth and tenth. ''Get Pietro to tell Adri to overtake first.'' Felipe says.

Eduardo sighs, but obliges him. ''On it.'' And, in a moment, Adriana nails the overtake. Felipe coming out of the chain just after her, and overtaking her a slight. ''Car ahead is Stroll.'' Eduardo says. Felipe just chuckles, and begins to crawl up behind Lance. Adriana is right beside Gasly again in his mirrors. Felipe nails the second overtake, with Adriana slowing Gasly down, and jumps on the defensive to help her immediately after. He can't believe this actually worked. They'd been working on this on their bikes during track walk. ''Car ahead is Lawson, gap is one second.''

The race ends with Felipe in ninth, and Adriana in tenth. More points for the team, and they're in the top half of the individual standings too! They laugh together in the garage after post race stuff, Felipe watches Adriana slip her abuelo's ring back onto her middle finger. She's so beautiful. Her eyes sparkle when she looks at him. ''Are you alright, Feli?'' She asks.

Felipe swallows some water, and says. ''Yeah, just... got lost.''

After the race, the grid go out for some dinner at a place Yuki loves. Adriana watches on as Felipe chats with Max and Gabriel. She smiles to herself, there's no one she'd rather race with, she adores him so much, and always has. It's terrifying, with her name and all. He'd never hear the end of it with her. ''Adriana, are you alright?'' Carlos asks.

Truth be told, she's been feeling like this since their junior days. ''Yeah... yeah, Chili, I'm fine.''

Once back at the hotel, Adriana sits on her bed, bags ready to go for their flight out. She looks at her ring, and takes a deep breath in, and exhales. It's odd, nobody alive today in the sport saw her abuelo race, or raced with him. She's shouldering his legacy all on her own, with no one to turn to for information. But, this is her career first, and her first season of many, she races for both of them now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miami - First Encounters

Media day in Miami, a sort of home race by proxy for both Adriana and Franco. It is beautiful today, not a single cloud in the sky, and warm as well. Shame they're going to be inside for most of the day, except for the special helmet reveals for both Alfa Romeo drivers. Adriana thanks her driver, and gets into the paddock, met by her escort - Maya. Who tells her the itinerary for the day. A press conference with Alex, Ollie, George, and Pierre at eleven. A joint interview for both of them with Nico Rosberg at one. And, capping off the day, the helmet reveal at three. She's well used to this by now, six races into her career. And, at least it won't be the political nightmare it was in Bahrain and Jeddah. Adriana goes to put her things in her driver's room. She walks past hospitality on her way to the press room with Maya. Seeing several very pretty - if similar looking - ladies congregated around a table. Wearing thousands of dollars of jewels and clothing. ''Maya, who are they?''

Maya says. ''Oh, they're the girlfriends of your colleagues, they all look the same to me too, Adriana.''

They all also look like the kind of girl Felipe would rather go for, not her with her calloused hands and driver's neck. She doesn't voice those thoughts to Maya, but she does carry them into press. She's sure she must be zoned out for the whole conference, but she does her best to answer all questions she gets. Once that's done with, she grabs some lunch with the team and Felipe. ''Wanna go meet the ladies, Adri?'' Felipe asks her.

Adriana shakes her head. ''Not today, maybe tomorrow.'' What could she possibly have in common with them? What would they talk about? She's spent her life on track, or wanting to be on track. They haven't. She'll be racing this weekend, they're just here to sit in garages.

After their interview with ESPN, they have some downtime before the social media team come to unveil their new helmets. So, Adriana retreats into her room with her book and some mate. Francesca is no doubt cooking up strategies for the sprint and race with Eduardo and Pietro. Felipe is probably with the rest of the drivers. What she wouldn't give to get into her car right now, that always stills her mind.

The helmet reveals come quickly. Felipe's being a Brazilian carnival theme, and Adriana's being an homage to the Argentine community in the city. Felipe's includes the seal of Brazil on the top, Adriana's has the Sol de Mayo. ''Thank you so much, guys.'' Anna, the social media admin for the team, says.

Felipe smiles, and says. ''You're welcome, Anna.'' Adriana puts her helmet back in its bag, and says. ''You're very welcome, is that us done for the day, then?''

Anna nods, and says. ''Yeah, that's all you had to do today.''

Thankful to be done with media, Adriana goes for a walk of the track by herself. It's weird, and stupid, but seeing the girlfriends of the other drivers just threw her back into her school days. Seeing the same types of girls who would tease her endlessly for not being like them enough. Not having anyone to sit with at lunch because of being the 'weird karting girl'. ''Adri, are you okay?'' Felipe asks her, he must have followed her out here. ''It's stupid, Feli.'' She's 23, an F1 driver, a Fangio, and she's worked up over this? Of all things?

Felipe says, furrowing his brows. ''No, it's not, what is it?'' Adriana sighs, leaning against a tire barrier. ''It's just... seeing the boys' girlfriends brought up a lot of stuff in my head, that's all.''

Felipe mirrors her, and asks further. ''What kind of stuff, Adri?'' Adriana sniffles, trying so hard to fight back the tears and pain of those memories. ''All of them look like the girls who bullied me in school, called me weird for this life I've chosen. They'd leave me out of everything, tell boys not to talk to me.'' She adds, after catching her breath. ''And, like, they're all models. But, here I am in my team polo and leggings.''

Felipe bluntly says, placing a hand on her arm. ''And, you look even more beautiful for it, Adri. No one cares about them, the entire world is looking at you right now.'' He says taking her hand in his, her breath hitching. ''No one will ever treat you like that again, not as long as I'm here, I promise.'' Adriana is struck by that, her best friend's vow to protect her, his assurances to her. And, what's even better? He means it, all of it. She embraces him, and dries her eyes. ''We do this together, Feli.''

Felipe nods, and tucks some hair back behind her ear, her ponytail must be coming loose. ''Always, Adri.'' Suddenly, they draw in for a kiss, perhaps the beautiful day and private moment catches up to them? Adriana only feels her heart racing, and Felipe's gentle hands on her back. But, they reel themselves in just before the two Red Bulls - Max and Liam - round the corner. ''You two good?'' Max asks.

Felipe nods. ''Yeah, we're just fine, heading back to the garage.'' They walk back together, hand in hand.

The weekend goes down a storm for Alfa Romeo. Points in both the sprint and main race. They've only missed the points twice now. Avenging the losses of Bahrain and Jeddah. After media, Adriana gets back to her driver's room, showers, and changes. They almost kissed on thursday, and would have if Max and Liam hadn't interrupted them. She helps her team pack the room up for teardown, and goes to find Franco. ''Franquito, can I talk to you in private a second, please?''

Franco says, happily as always. ''Yeah, sure.'' They find somewhere out of the way to talk, and she tells him about the almost-kiss. ''You and Felipe... almost kissed?'' He asks, jaw on the ground. Adriana nods. ''Yeah, please, don't tell anyone, okay?'' Franco promises her he won't. Which is good. Somewhere in the back of her mind is anger at the Red Bulls for denying her that kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imola - Home Race

Alfa Romeo are home at long last, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is their team's home race. Adriana had to take a train into Milan to close a lease on an apartment there as soon as they landed, but the deal is done now. She's got both her apartment in Buenos Aires and Milan now. Neither she or Felipe have talked about the almost-kiss in Miami. They're treating it as though it was just a momentary impulse. Deep down, though, Adriana wanted that kiss. She's wanted that kiss since they met back in junior. But, she's content to just leave it alone for now. Today, before anything begins for them, they go to place a flag and some flowers at the memorial for Ayrton Senna. His memorial near the track where he died thirty one years ago. Felipe has the flag, and Adriana has the flowers. Felipe lets go of her hand to drape the flag around the statue's shoulders. Adriana places the flowers next to the statue. There's never a day that goes by where Adriana isn't carrying her abuelo's legacy, but today Felipe looks burdened instead. This is his legacy to carry everyday. ''It's strange, coming back here as an actual driver rather than a reserve, I feel him so much more now.'' Felipe says, slinging his arm around her shoulders.

Adriana wraps her arms around his waist, and says. ''He was incredible, set such a standard for all of us. I think he'd be proud to see you and Gabi on the grid.''

Felipe nods, and rests his head against hers, only three inches of height separate them. ''I hope so, all of Brazil is looking at us the same way they looked at him.'' He says. ''It feels like so much is on the four of us sometimes. Gabi and I with Senna and Brazil, you with your avô, and you and Franco with Argentina.''

Adriana takes some deep breaths, and says to her best friend. ''At least we've got each other, don't we?'' Felipe nods, and leads them back to the car.

The crowd ahead of the race on Sunday is a sea of maroon, black, and white. With plenty of Brazilian and Argentinian flags flying. Ferrari might have Monza and the Tifosi, but this is something special too. Felipe is due to start from sixth after a penalty from one of the Mercedes drivers, Adriana is starting from ninth. Francesca has them both on two stoppers, starting on hards. ''Radio check, Adriana?'' Pietro says as she waits on the grid.

Adriana says. ''Loud and clear, Pietro.'' The crews are given the hands off order, and it's just them on the grid. After the formation lap, they get to racing properly. On lap ten, Adriana realizes something. ''Pietro, I forgot to take my rings off, am I going to get in trouble?'' Pietro says to her. ''I'll check with the stewards, but you shouldn't, no.'' Adriana presses on, keeping Albon's Williams in her vision as she tries to come back from 14th after a mistake on laps seven and eight.

After the race, where she finishes one position shy of points in twelfth, Adriana gets done with media, and heads for a shower in her motorhome. After which, she gets the kettle on for some mate, She relaxes with a book. Not bad for racing on four hours of sleep last night. She's not stopped thinking of that moment from Miami since, even if they've refused to talk about it. She must fall asleep at some point, because the next thing she knows it's dark outside. The boys will have went out for dinner together, but she was just too tired to join them this time. Her phone buzzes on the coffee table, it's Franco. ''Hola, Franquito, que es?''

Franco says. ''Hola, hermana. Where were you tonight? Felipe was worried about you, so were Gabi and I.'' Adriana sits up on the sofa, and says. ''I raced on four hours of sleep, I just wanted to rest. I also can't stop thinking about Miami.'' She admits to her friend.

Franco asks her, probably the question she doesn't want to answer yet. ''Did you want the kiss with Felipe? Did you want him to kiss you then?''

Adriana swallows to try and get rid of the dryness in her throat. ''I did, and it scares me. I think I've wanted that kiss for some time as well.'' God only knows what that could unleash upon the world. The first male-female driver tandem, Brazil and Argentina, possibly dating each other? Is that even allowed? Could they lose everything over that? ''This could get interesting, Adri, you know that, right?'' Franco asks her.

Adriana nods, hugging her knees to her chest. ''I do, Franco, and I hate it, Fisi could fire both of us for this. But, at the same time, what if it doesn't hurt us? What if we'd be fine?''

Franco asks her, sounding like Alejandro right now. ''Are you willing to take that risk?''

Adriana says, resting her chin on her knees. ''Maybe? I don't know yet.'' She feels herself welling up, so wishing her abuelo was here to guide her. ''Dios mio, Franquito. I'm just scared. I love him so much, and I love this so much. I want both.''

Franco says, voice oddly tranquil. ''Then, have both. You're a Fangio, right? If you want both, have both.'' Can she? Does she dare ask for more than she already has?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Canada - First Rain Race

Qualifying was really good, if a bit hectic with the rain. They've qualified tenth for Felipe and twelfth for Adriana. Neither are really used to rain yet, and the sunshine did not follow the gang from Monaco and Spain. But, it is what it is. Adriana parks up in the garage, and bails out of the car. Getting herself ready for media quickly. Maya shadowing her into the pen, she has no idea where she'd be without all this help from the team. The circus of it all is still something she's getting used to. But, she nurses her mate in her cold hands, and gets into the pen to do her rounds. Someone from L'Equipe asks her. ''Adriana, the team recently brought a new rear wing to Canada, how do you feel it's improved the car?''

Adriana sips her mate, and says. ''It's so much better on the straights already, our old one wasn't doing us well in Barcelona. Happy with our progress so far. We'll see tomorrow.''

Someone from Global News asks her. ''The gap between yourself and Felipe is so small, is it time for Alfa Romeo to have the conversation yet?''

Adriana shakes her head emphatically. ''No, and that conversation isn't going to happen. We're both number one drivers, and that's how we'll stay.'' She tries to ignore the feeling in her chest. Someone from TSN steps forward to ask her about Lance Stroll. ''Adriana, this is the first time this year that Stroll has beaten you both, he's one place ahead of Felipe tomorrow. Do you think that justifies Aston Martin letting Felipe go?''

Laughing, Adriana stirs her drink with her bombilla. ''Not really, no. One race of ten isn't a good sample size. We've beaten Aston Martin nine times this season. We all know why Felipe got dropped, and I'm glad he's my teammate now, so, thank you, Lawrence.''

The same journalist asks her. ''You say that, but don't elaborate on it, what do you mean by all that?'' He's trying to bait her into saying something stupid, and she knows it. She's racing royalty, and no doubt lots of people are waiting for her to mess up. ''I'll not be dragged into a war of words, but I'm glad to race with Felipe. I'd not do this with anyone else.''

Media ends, and Adriana heads back to her room to get some physio and change. She finds Felipe on her way to her car. ''Did you mean all of that, Adri?'' He asks her, eyes sparkling despite the rain. Adriana nods, and puts her bag in the back seat. ''Every single word of it, Feli. They were insulting you, and I won't have that.''

The rain continues into race day, causing a delay in proceedings after the parade. They'll be getting going in about half an hour. So, bored out of her mind, Adriana goes to grab some mate for herself and Felipe, and her truco cards. ''Wanna play?'' She asks him. Felipe takes his drink, and smiles brightly. ''Sure.'' They sit at the strategy table, and play cards while drinking mate. The rain still lashing down upon the Alfa Romeo garage. ''We'll be mounting up in 20 minutes, guys.'' Sporting Director, Alberto, informs them. They both nod, and get back on with their game and drinks, ignoring the whispers of the team around them, and the cameras. ''And, I think I've won.'' Felipe says.

Adriana leans over to look at his hand. ''Dios mio, felicidades, Feli.'' Felipe smirks, his face too temptingly close to hers. ''Obrigado, Adri.'' They tidy up, and go to get ready to get onto the grid. Adriana gets into her car, and belted in. She's pushed into her grid slot, and informed of the aborted start, they've docked five laps off the race. So, 65 laps instead of the normal 70. ''That's about what I expected, Pietro, yeah. Has Edo informed Feli yet?''

Pietro affirms to her. ''Felipe knows as well, yes.'' Adriana nods to herself, she'd never live with herself if they weren't being treated equally.

Neither Alfa Romeos score points this weekend, but they get close. twelfth for Felipe and thirteenth for Adriana. They get out of weigh-ins, and get into media. They do their lap of the pen together. As they did in Australia. ''Felipe, Adriana; that was a difficult race for you both, was there anything that could've been done to improve your positions?''

Felipe shakes his head, his hand coming to rest on Adriana's back as always. ''No, the rain was just too much for us today. We'll be fine come Austria.''

Adriana backs him up, adding. ''We've only missed points a few times this year, it's not going to happen every weekend. We're just happy we kept the cars in one piece.''

Someone asks them both. ''Outside of the Big Four teams, this is proving to be one of the best driver lineups on the grid, why do you both think that is?''

Felipe answers first, most comfortable in front of the media of them both. ''We're such good friends, and have been for so long, we're just enjoying this time together.'' Smiling up at him, and enjoying his hand on her back, Adriana says. ''We're also from similar places, and know each other really well. It feels like we're back in karts again!''

They get back to the hotel later, Adriana jumps in the shower, and gets herself ready for dinner with the rest of the drivers. She had no idea how much she would enjoy this year. She opts for a nice red and black dress and a white blazer. Team colours. Felipe is in a nice blue dress shirt and leather jacket. ''You look nice, Feli.'' She compliments him.

Felipe smiles, looking a slight bashful actually. ''So do you, Adri. Gotta keep up, y'know?'' Adriana laughs, checking her purse for everything she needs. ''Don't say that about yourself.'' They get going to the restaurant, and find the suite where the rest are. Felipe talks to Carlos all through dinner, and Adriana talks to Max about Argentina. ''It's gorgeous, you and Kelly would love it there, I'm sure Penelope would too.''

Max chuckles, and says. ''She's so proudly Brazilian, but I'll see if I can convince her for winter break.''

Adriana cheekily says. ''Convince Penelope first, my papa would go to his older siblings to try and get abuelo to do things.'' Max laughs, and says. ''I'll try that, yeah.''

After dinner, the Alfa Romeos get back to the hotel together, Felipe walking with Adriana to her room like a gentleman. They share a silent embrace, and close in for a kiss, the day must catch up to them at last. But, the sound of the elevator opening splits them up. ''See you in Spielberg, guys.'' Oscar says.

Felipe nods, speaking for them both. ''See you in Austria, Oscar.'' Adriana retreats into her room. and sits down on her bed heavily. Another kiss interrupted, maybe the universe is trying to tell her something? But, why should she, a Fangio, need to listen? She wants both, so she'll have both. It's what abuelo did when he married abuela, who was ten years younger than him. If Felipe feels the same, which she suspects he does, who's to stop them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britain - A Family Affair

For the first time all season, both Alfa Romeo families will be at Silverstone to see them race! Felipe's parents and siblings have been flown in with Adriana's by the team. Austria was a really good weekend, and hopefully Silverstone will be even better. No rain due, which benefits them greatly this weekend. Fisichella is taking the two families to the racing museum today. The place booked out for them today, Their mothers look at all the old racing suits, their siblings go to see the photo walls, and their dads look at the old cars. Felipe and Adriana look at the record books. Felipe looks at some pictures of Senna and Prost from the old days. Adriana looks at some old photos of her abuelo, seeing him with her abuela. Their shared signet ring on his pinky finger. ''Feli, come here, check this out!'' She says. Felipe comes to join her, his hand on her back as usual. ''What is it, Adri?''

Adriana points to her abuelo's right pinky finger. ''My ring, he was wearing it here, see? With my abuela!''

Felipe beams, looking between her middle finger and the picture. ''He's not wearing it in the other pictures, maybe it was new that last year?''

Adriana nods, looking at the other images. ''I think you're right. Now, let me show you something cool.'' He takes her hand, leading her to the display of Brazilian successes here. Senna in particular. ''Rubens as well, he's here, Massa, all of them.''

Adriana says. ''We race for them, and abuelo. We're here because of them.''

Felipe nods, and says, looking down at her with love, making her head spin. ''We also race for ourselves, Adri.'' He is always quick to remind her of that, to take the pressure off. She doesn't know what she'd do without him sometimes.

After free practice on friday, Adriana bails out of her car, and get ready for debrief with the team. Times were good, and she's very happy with how things are going. They both took new engines for this race, their Maserati engines are a godsend. Then, Adriana catches up with her older brother, Julian, one of her three older brothers. ''I hope you know how proud of you we all are, Adri.''

Adriana swallows some of her water. ''I do, I carry that with me every weekend.''

Julian asks her after a few moments of silence. ''I also hope you know that you and Felipe are playing with fire.'' She does know, and it scares her sometimes, it's funny, going full send into Copse is nothing compared to this. But, she also doesn't really care. ''I do, but, Julian, I'm racing royalty, can't I have both?''

Julian says, his hand on her shoulder. ''For your sakes, I hope so, hermanita.''

They catch up with Felipe's younger sister, Camilla. ''Everything okay, guys?''

Adriana assures her friend. ''Yeah, Cami, don't worry.'' They head to Alfa Romeo hospitality for some lunch as a big family.

Sunday comes quickly, and is beautifully sunny. Their families are in their garages, and the two drivers are on the starting grid. Felipe in eighth, and Adriana ahead of him in seventh. Her abuelo raced here back in his day, and she will make him proud of her today. The Mercedes boys had to take penalties, and that's helped them both. The lights go out for the race, and Adriana sticks close to Oscar Piastri, Felipe in her mirrors. They come roaring out of Aintree and down the Wellington Straight.

On lap 20, Adriana comes out of the pits with fresh mediums. Felipe will box next lap. She's dropped to twelfth as they go into Village. ''No heroics here, Adriana, just keep it in the lines, alright?'' Adriana checks her mirrors, seeing one of the Racing Bulls. ''Got it, Pietro. Who's behind me?''

Pietro says. ''That'd be Franco.'' Adriana hums, and keeps pressing forward to close the gap to one of the Haas drivers. ''Gap to Bearman is three tenths, and you are four tenths faster.'' Pietro says as they head back down Wellington. ''Got it.''

Going into Brooklands and Luffield, Adriana closes up on Bearman, and goes wide into the National Straight. Her mama must be in hysterics as she overtakes five cars around Copse. ''You are in seventh again, Adriana, keep it up.'' Pietro says.

Adriana says. ''Someone check on my mother, please?'' And keeps driving.

On lap 40, she comes back out of the pits with new mediums on, and is still in seventh behind Norris this time. ''You are three seconds clear of Alonso, head down.'' Pietro instructs her.

On the final lap, she's still fighting Norris for sixth. Her abuelo guiding her as he did in China. They come out of Chapel, and Adriana gets the inside, overtaking him around Stowe. In the end, she comes home in sixth place, her highest finish yet! She's speechless on her in-lap, and parks at parc-ferme. ''That was incredible, Adriana, your abuelo would be proud. Felipe in eighth as well, before you ask.'' Pietro says. And, finally, Adriana can breathe again.

She meets up with Felipe, embracing him for the moment. Still unable to talk too much. Sixth at Silverstone, on her first race at the track. They meet the team together, this has to be the best race of the season for the team. Best part is, they're far from done, there's still so much work to do.

They celebrate with a big team and family dinner while teardown is underway for Spa. Adriana shares a look with Felipe, as though both want so badly to say something, but can't bring themselves to do it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Belgium - Point of No Return

Spa is just gorgeous, it really is. The best track in the world, and it's not even close. Fisichella takes his drivers for a tour of the track on a little golf cart as soon as they arrive in Stavelot. Another one of the original tracks where her abuelo raced, albeit with a far different layout to today. The trip from La Source to the Kemel Straight is a rush already, and they're not even in their cars yet. Felipe films the whole run on his phone, Adriana takes pictures as well. She wants to make a memory book of her rookie season. She's got pictures and trinkets from every circuit so far. The team are still riding the high of those points from Silverstone. And, probably will be until summer break after Hungary next week. That hits her as they come back to the garage, they've got two races until summer. As they're going inside, Adriana hears an argument from Red Bull, a man and a woman. ''Fisi, what's going on down there?'' She asks.

Giancarlo, ever a professional team principal, says. ''If I had to guess, Max's girlfriend has taken issue with something.'' Adriana rolls her eyes, thankful she never bothered to make friends with the girlfriends. ''She likes reminding people of her status as racing royalty.''

Adriana raises an eyebrow at that. ''She's not racing royalty, I am. Felipe is the holder of Senna's legacy too.''

Felipe laughs, his hand coming to rest on her back as always. ''Don't go telling her that, it'd burst her little bubble.'' Adriana shrugs, slinging her arm around Felipe's waist. ''Maybe that's what she needs.''

On Friday, they qualify eleventh and thirteenth for the sprint race after being top ten in practice. After media, they head for debrief, and go to grab some lunch with the others. Lewis looks pleased with his sprint pole, Max will be second. ''Any plans for summer, guys?'' Alex asks the two Alfa Romeos.

Adriana fiddles with the cap of her water bottle, and says. ''Buenos Aires, it'll be winter there, but I miss home.'' Felipe nods, and says to the table. ''I was going to head home to Monaco, but it's been so long since I went to Argentina.''

Liam gives them a knowing glance. ''So... you're spending summer together?''

Felipe shrugs. ''Why not? Our families have spent holidays together for years.'' Adriana finishes her lunch, and relaxes with the rest instead of retreating to her motorhome. She's one of this small group now, and will be for the next three and a half years at minimum.

They come tenth and eleventh in the sprint on saturday. And, qualifying goes swimmingly as well. Felipe in eighth, and Adriana in ninth right beside him. Right in front of the two Haas drivers, and behind Oscar and George. Seems like Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren won't be knocked from the top three positions just yet. Adriana gets into the media pen with a distinct feeling that something is going to happen tomorrow. ''Adriana, that last lap you put in was incredible, how are you liking Spa so far?''

Adriana giggles, and says. ''Thank you. I'm loving it here so far, One of the older tracks, and there's such an aura once you get here, you can really feel the history of this place.''

Another journalist asks her. ''Adriana, you are now the most experienced woman in Formula 1 history, how does that feel to you?'' Adriana thinks, her eyes welling up a bit at the magnitude of that achievement. ''It's huge, and humbling. I just really hope me being here opens up the doors for more women to be on this grid. I am so lucky to be here, and ready for the rest of my time here.''

After her rounds, she heads for a shower, and some physio after changing into some more comfortable clothes. She grabs something to eat from hospitality, and goes for a nap.

The race starts hot, really hot, seems like everyone is a bit punchy today. Desperation for summer, probably. Adriana gets loose of the Haas and Alpine cluster on lap 5. Following Felipe until their double stack on lap 19 for new mediums. ''God, this race is carnage already.'' Adriana vents to Pietro.

Pietro says, not impressed himself. ''Yeah, I know. Just, keep it on track, and stay out of trouble, Adriana.''

Adriana drives into Blanchimont. ''Oh, don't worry, I will.'' She gets on with maintaining her eighth place position, eager for points before the more difficult track in Hungary. On lap 29, Pietro says to her. ''Stroll has just shunted Felipe off at Blanchimont, safety car this lap.'' Adriana feels sick, Felipe was behind her the whole way after their stop. ''Is... is he okay?''

Pietro affirms, sensing her fear for him. ''Yeah, he's bailed out, and is on his way to the medics.''

Adriana takes her place behind the safety car, and says. ''I'll see him after the race, Stroll's fucked with the wrong team, I think.'' The safety car lasts two laps, Adriana keeps Lance in her mirrors, and break tests him up Eau Rouge. Playing cat and mouse with him all the way into Stavelot. ''Adriana, don't do anything stupid, okay?'' Pietro pleads with her.

Adriana says down her radio. ''Play stupid games, get stupid prizes.'' They've got six laps left when Adriana sees Gabriel and Franco pull up beside her, Lance still in her mirrors. The trio drive off without him, Adriana just ahead into Les Combes.

She comes in seventh, Gabriel in eighth, Franco in ninth. A South American midfield lockout. Just as it should be. She's told Lance had a tire blowout with old mediums on lap 43. Serves him right. Adriana gets her rings back on, weighs in, and does a quick media round. Desperate to see Felipe again. Maya escorts her to the medical center. Felipe is in a room there, in just his fireproofs, looking a bit rouged up, but no worse for wear. ''Feli, dios mio.'' She sits on the bed next to him, cupping his face in her shaking hands.

He runs his hands up her back to soothe her anxiety. ''I'm alright, Adri, no concussion, just a bit shaken. I'm alright.'' He says to her, voice calm for her. ''Good job on the seventh.''

Adriana says, trying not to cry all over her best friend. ''It was all for you.'' And, maybe it's the emotions of today, or the quiet in the room at last, or the lack of interruptions getting in the way. But, they finally, finally get that kiss they tried to have in Miami and Canada. It was so worth the months of waiting, the room melts away. Their two hearts beat as one. Felipe pulls her closer to him, afraid she'll slip away. Adriana knits her fingers into his hair. They slowly come back to reality. Sharing that same held gaze they always have. ''Feli... if we do this... you'll never be left alone, you know that, right?'' She's never been normal.

Felipe looks deeply into her eyes, as only he can. ''I'm never left alone anyway, Adri. I don't care. Do you care?''

Should a Fangio concern herself with the opinions of idiots? ''No, no I don't.'' He smiles, and pulls her in for another kiss, this one more certain, not rushed or feverish, just full of a promise to each other.

After she visits him, she re-joins Maya outside. Breathless, flushed to her ears, and beautifully happy. Felipe will be released this evening. Maya tells her she missed the podium ceremony. ''To be honest, Maya, I'm fine with that.''

Maya laughs, handing off her water bottle and some lip balm from Adriana's race bag. ''I can imagine.''

They get back to her driver's room so she can shower and change out of her sweaty race gear. Then, Adriana goes to update Giancarlo and the team on Felipe. ''He's alright, no concussion, he'll be back with us in a couple of hours.'' It seems odd to be talking about her boyfriend without him present. Her boyfriend, he's her boyfriend now! And, her teammate too! She's his girlfriend! ''Good, I'm glad he's alright. That crash looked ugly.'' Eduardo says, relieved for his driver.

Adriana says, because she knows this to be true in her soul. ''Abuelo was protecting him, so was Senna. They were looking after him today.''

Francesca nods, normally the rational strategist, but she'll not question her driver's spiritual side. ''I could not agree more, Adriana.''

That evening, the new couple relax in Adriana's motorhome. Just done with dinner, instead of going out with the others. The last thing they want is questions from the rest of the grid. They snuggle on the loveseat with some old movies, before heading to bed. Adriana curls up with Felipe, and kisses him for the third time today. ''I'm glad you're alright, Feli, I've never felt fear like that.''

Felipe kisses her head, placing her hand on his heart. ''I'll always be here beside you, Adri, no one will take me from you.'' He asks her. ''Did anything happen to Lance?''

Adriana yawns and says. ''A three place grid drop for Hungary and a fine.'' She adds. ''Not that we need to worry about that, I think he got the message.''

Felipe asks her, intrigued. ''Yeah? What did you do?'' Adriana leans up to kiss him, and says. ''I think you know.'' He chuckles, and they finally get some sleep together, ready to get to Hungary, and then they can hide out in Argentina for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This will be part one of two or three, I'm not too sure yet! This has been such a fun story to write! Had this idea randomly one evening, and had to do something with it. I'm a sucker for characters with immense legacies to carry. Adriana is the youngest of Fangio's many grandchildren here. And the only one in motorsport. So, added to being the first woman with a permanent seat, and driving for her grandfather's team. That's a lot to handle for someone so young! And, a bit of forbidden, friends to teammates to lovers for a bit of spice.

Next part will focus on Summer break in Argentina and return to driving with Zandvoort, then we go from there.

Enjoy!

[solarsonicsoda]

Wrestlemania Main Event Reviews - Wrestlemania XXXIX (Saturday)

Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) (c) for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships in 24:17

Oh my god what a promo package. As a longtime Zayn & Owens fan now, this hit different. Simply electric. Now, Lil Uzi Vert is out first with his hair styled like Batman’s head in a rather impressive look, and he's singing a song. He does this to welcome the champions, The Usos. Now here comes KO, main eventing Night One for a second consecutive time. I never noticed his homages to PWG and Super Dragon on his trunks! Now here's Sami Zayn! The crowd sing along to Worlds Apart as the challengers walk their way to the ring. Cole makes a great point, while The Usos are part of a famous wrestling family, here in their showy white gear, Zayn & Owens are down to Earth, blue collar, and they walk to the ring in plain black zip-up hoodies. The titles are raised and we’re ready to go. 

Olé chants start things off as they take things in. Jey offers the tag and starts it off against Zayn. Lock up and Uso gains control. Lock up again and this time Zayn wins out from the rope rebound. Jimmy makes a secret tag and pulls the ropes to drop Zayn to the outside. A clothesline by Jimmy, a throw into the ringpost, then Jimmy tags Jey who hits a dive. Suplex and he takes it back in the ring. Attack in the ropes and Jimmy kicks Zayn as the referee is distracted. Tag again and Jimmy stomps Zayn. He strikes Owens and draws his ire. Tag again and a double team. Jey can't put Zayn away yet though, even if he's desperate for a tag. Zayn is able to fight back and drop both Usos to the outside and get the tag! From the top rope, cannonball! He takes both men out and hits Bullfrog Splashes on each Uso, Jimmy on the outside and Jey inside. No 3 though, and Jey is able to regain control with a neckbreaker. Owens put up top and Jimmy makes a tag but Owens fights back. Knees up by Jey from a Swanton though, then Himmy immediately follows with an Uso Splash for 2. Owens sodges the hip attack, two superkicks, then a Cannonball in the corner to Jimmy. He goes up top but Jey fights him. However, Zayn fights him off and hits a brainbuster on the apron! Swanton from Owens but no 3. Zayn is in and huts an Uso Splash but it's 2 again. Ole chants even louder now as Cole mentions El Generico on WWE TV! Graves says he’s glad that guy retired.

Jimmy fights back against a Blue Thunder Bomb and hits a superkick on Owens. Zayn is finally able to hit it but only after Jimmy tags Jey who immediately breaks the pin with a superkick. Some sort of flying superkick from Jey but Zayn kicks out. Superkick again from Jey and he tags Jimmy. They each hit one then a double superkick but Owens breaks up the pin. He gets his own superkick as the Usos tag again. They hound Sami and hit a double superkick to the back of the head of Zayn! He still won't stay down though. Tag again and double superkick again but Zayn kicks out. Tag again as they raise the ones and go for a 1D, but Owens pulls Jimmy from the ring. Jey kicks out of the roll up as Owens bounces Jimmy off of the announce table, He looks for a move through it but Jey runs in and helps his brother, as they drive him through an announce table. 1D on Zayn back in the ring, but kick out! Great reaction and the commentary sells it well. Jey begs Zayn to quit and beats him down in the corner. Zayn tries desperately to stand and Jey hits a Helluva Kick. Zayn falls into Jey as he mouths off again, but Exploder Suplex into the corner! Zayn tags Owens who hits pop-up powerbombs on both men. Owens screams “NOW” as Zayn hits a Helluva Kick on Jimmy, Owens hits a Stunner on Jey, but he kicks out at 2. Each team pull each other up on the mat and stare down as the crowd cheers. They start teeing off on each other. Superkick from Jimmy to Zayn, then one from Owens to Jimmy, then one to Jey. Pop-up powerbomb attempt but Jey vaults over after a secret tag by Jimmy. Superkicks each then a double superkick to Owens, and Zayn gets one on the apron too. Dragged over, tag, and Double Uso Splash. But Owens kicks out at two! Jey lifts up Owens in the corner, tags Jimmy, and double superkick in the corner. Tag again, and they put Owens up top. Jey has him superplex position but Zayn pulls out Jimmy and launches him over the announce table as Owens brings down Jey. Zayn runs to the corner and begs for the tag as the crowd goes wild. Jey is in the corner and Zayn hits the Helluva Kick! Jey falls into him, and after a moment he props him back up and hits another! But here comes Jimmy… but Owens is there with a Stunner. Zayn props Jey up once more, the crowd knows what's going to happen, and he hits one more Helluva Kick! 1, 2, 3! New champs as they quietly sit down and take it in. They embrace and get their titles, raising them as the fireworks go off. What a moment.

Pros: Emphatic victory, hot crowd, emotional moments, exciting action Cons: I can probably only wish I was more awake when I first saw it!

This is a pretty great match. Four awesome wrestlers, even if The Usos rely heavily on their superkicks throughout. Owens & Zayn getting this platform is absolutely awesome after all their years on the indies and work trying to get to this spot once in the WWE. It’s really less about the in-ring here and more about the moment, the energy, and the story. That's no knock on this match though, because it was all so good. A great pair of co-mains on this night for completely different reasons. But what a moment and the end of an always engaging match! 

4.5 STARS OUT OF 5

[wrestlingisfake]

King of Pro Wrestling preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Naito is defending the IWGP world heavyweight championship. Sabre scored a win over Naito in July, during the G1 Climax, before going on to win the whole tournament. Normally the G1 winner would receive a title match at the Tokyo Dome in January, but Zack has elected to skip the wait and do it now. He hopes to win the title and bring it to the London show on October 20. Zack is already scheduled to face SANADA at that show; if he's successful here, that will become his first title defense.

New Japan desperately needs to establish a wave of new stars, and at 37 years old, Sabre is not exactly the ideal candidate to lead the next generation. But at this point New Japan has booked themselves into a corner. Naito is 42 and looks increasingly worn down, Hiroshi Tanahashi is a spent force at 47, and everybody else at their level has signed with WWE or AEW. EVIL, Shingo Takagi, and Sanada didn't catch fire. The Reiwa Musketeers (Shota Umino, Ren Narita, and Yota Tsuji) are still years away from being allowed to grab the brass ring, with Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa bottlenecked in line behind them. So under the circumstances, Sabre is the best available option in 2024.

That doesn't make it a lock Sabre will win the big one here. When Kenny Omega won the G1 in 2016, I was certain he'd be coronated as the top champion right away, but it didn't end up happening for almost two years. I don't really think they should pull the rug out from Sabre, but they're not afraid to do it if they're not ready to put a new guy on top.

It's particularly hard to predict New Japan's future plans because we have no idea what the Tokyo Dome main event will end up being. Normally that match would be locked in by now, and this year we can't be certain either Naito or Sabre will make it to Wrestle Kingdom. I suspect there's a reason for that, but I can't figure out what it could be.

I haven't gotten much out of Naito's matches lately, so this will mainly depend on the drama of Sabre trying to beat a top guy who's always been a cut above him, to finally score the crowning achievement of his career. If he doesn't win, a lot of fans are going to be bitterly disappointed, and I don't think New Japan will have a contingency plan for that. So I'm pulling for him, but I've been burned too many times to count on a title change.

David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto - Finlay defended the IWGP global title against YOSHI-HASHI a couple of weeks ago, so now Yoshi's partner Goto wants a shot. These two were scheduled to meet on March 16 during the New Japan Cup, but Finlay had to withdraw due to a medical issue. When they finally squared off in August, Goto scored an upset victory. So Finlay is looking for some vengeance.

I'd love to tell you Goto has at least a shot of winning, but I can't convince myself of that. Finlay is just going to roll over this guy like he did Yoshi. These are placeholder matches against lower midcarders because Finaly has run out of guys that are worth beating. I'd like to think that after this match a young guy will step up to challenge him for the Tokyo Dome, but there aren't really that many young guys handy to fill that role. With that in mind, it's no wonder Finlay has--and will retain--the #2 heavyweight belt in the promotion.

DOUKI vs. SHO - Sho attacked Douki on September 29 and swiped the IWGP junior heavyweight title, so this is one of those matches where the champion intends to get his belt back by giving a title shot to the guy who stole it. I really don't need another run for Sho as the undeserving chickenshit heel champion. Douki should retain.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino & El Phantasmo vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - This is billed as Tanahashi's 25th anniversary match, celebrating his in-ring debut in 1999. This is a trios match, and Tana is one of the NEVER trios champions, and Evil's team has been chasing that title for weeks. But for this match Tana is teaming with ELP and Shota instead of Toru Yano and Oleg Boltin, so the belts aren't at stake. I'm not sure what the point is, except that Shota finally convinced Phantasmo to stop thinking about joining Houe of Torture, and formally align with Hontai. An American booker would use this opportunity to fake us out and have ELP go ahead and double-cross the Hontai team to help Evil's team win. But I can't see New Japan doing that. More likely Yujiro or Nobu will simply lose the fall.

Jeff Cobb vs. Yota Tsuji vs. Ren Narita - Cobb's NJPW World television title is on the line, so this match has a 15-minute time limit. The first man to score a pin or submission on either opponent within the time limit will win the match and the title. On September 8, Cobb retained his belt against Tsuji in a time limit draw, and then Narita attacked both men to put himself in the title picture. I figure this is a way to move the title to Narita without cleanly beating either guy.

Shingo Takagi vs. Ryohei Oiwa - Takagi regained the NEVER title on September 29, and Oiwa stepped up to be the first challenger. I don't want to say it's too soon for Oiwa to get a push and/or a title run. But HENARE spent years trying to win the NEVER belt, and he finally won it from Shingo, only to lose it right back. If he's still just a good hand, I don't know why they'd strap a rocket to Oiwa's back. Something tells me this will be a straightforward win for Takagi, where the story for Oiwa will be how good he looked in defeat.

Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls vs. Bad Luck Fale & Caveman Ugg - Haste and Nicholls are defending the IWGP heavyweight tag title. The STRONG tag title is not at stake; Haste and Nicholls are scheduled to defend that one on October 20. Fale was a key member of Bullet Club, but he hasn't done much in Japan lately as he's been focused on the Bullet Club subgroup, Rogue Army, over in NJPW's shows in Australia and New Zealand. Ugg is a caveman in said Rogue Army. I could see this going either way. World Tag League is coming up, but I can't really see how it'd make a difference which of these teams heads into that with the belts.

Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight - Knight pinned Moloney in a trios match on August 30, so now he gets a shot for the IWGP junior heavyweight tag title. This is the first time he's teamed with Kushida since June, and the first time the Intergalactic Jet Setters have challenged for the junior tag title since April. In two-on-two matchups, the Jet Setters are 2-1 against the champions, but they've never beaten Connors and Moloney when the gold is on the line. I've been ready for a junior tag title change for a while now, but I don't have much confidence it'll happen this time. The safe bet is for the champs to retain.

Mistico vs. Hiromu Takahashi - Mistico is the MLW middleweight champion and the CMLL historic middleweight champion, but neither of those titles is at stake here. I think the story here is that Hiromu just wants to wrestle him. It seems like a pretty huge match, so it's kind of weird it's just opening the show. Mistico probably needs to win, unless they're setting up a title match someplace.

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW NEW YEAR DASH!! 2024 Review (Jan 5th, Sumida Ward Gymnasium, Tokyo)

NJPW World TV Championship - Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi **1/2

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa ***

El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Yuto Nakashima & Oskar Leube **1/2

Tama Tonga, Shota Umino, El Desperado, Master Wato, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo *1/2

Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, HENARE, TJP & Frencesco Akira vs. David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Clark Conners & Drilla Moloney ****

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinku **1/4

KOPW 2024 Championship ~ Pinfall Only 10 Minute Sprint - Toru Yano vs. Great-O-Khan vs. YOH vs. Taiji Ishimori *1/2

Kazuchika Okada, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita ***3/4

Photos.

This was your typically fun, brisk NEW YEAR DASH!! show, that was as always was more about the angles and story progressions into the year ahead (or indeed, lack there of) as opposed to great matches or anything. Debuting in the Sumida Ward Gym, the show was a mystery card, with the matches only becoming apparent once the participants entered. Things kicked off with Tanahashi defending the World TV Title against Ryusuke Taguchi, in an inoffensive, but totally superfluous opener. It only went 5:40, and was pretty much all your typical Taguchi comedy bout, which Tana obviously won with a cradle. The post match was eventful as a video aired of none other than Matt Riddle challenging Tanahashi, so that's certainly an interesting development. Tana claimed to have no idea who Riddle was. Next up, NOAH Ace Kiyomiya and NJ Young Lion Oiwa put in a losing effort against former tag champs Bishamon. This was a nice little match which saw Goto pin Oiwa after the Shoto in 7:40.

The next outing was Young Lion's Nakashima and Leube's official last match before their excursion. They took on the new Tag Champs, ELP and Hikuleo in a standard tag match. Phantasmo pinned Yuto at the 8 minute mark with Thunder Kiss 86. After bidding the Young Lions farewell, Chase Owens attacked the champions, and announced himself and KENTA as their next challengers. Fab. It was 12 man tag action next as the entire House of Torture took on the New Japan Babyface All-Stars. This was pretty bad, and devolved into the usual HoT nonsense. Umino pinned Togo in 8 minutes after a Death Rider, then the heels beat everyone down in the post match. Narita focussed on Shota, so their feud continues, Kanemaru laid out Despy with a whiskey bottle, so there's his next Jr. Title challenger, and EVIL laid out Tama, cut his hair, and posed with the NEVER Title, which he then stole. I can't possibly pretend that any of these pairings interest me in the slightest, but if there's one positive, it's that at least EVIL isn't anywhere near the main event scene.

United Empire battled the Bullet Club War Dogs next in a 10 man. This was all excellent. The match itself only went 5:10, but it was all-action and super intense; they brawled around the building, Akira hit a balcony dive, Connors Speared and beatdown the referee, Gabe Kidd juiced a gusher after hitting the exposed buckles, the War Dogs all threw chairs and guardrails from the crowd into the ring, and the match was thrown out, ruled a No Contest. There was a crazy post-match beatdown, which included the heels trying to gouge Akira's eye out with a metal object, and he juiced too. Just when it looked like they were done, the UE fought back and cleared house, only for Gedo to blindside Ospreay with a lowblow. They were about to take him out when TJP made the save by Misting Finlay, and Ospreay hit Gedo with a running Powerbomb through an upright table in the corner. Ospreay then said his last night in New Japan is New Beginning in Osaka on February 11th, and challenged all 5 guys to 10 man war fare, and he'd let Finlay choose the stipulation. The new Global Champion chose a Cage Match, so that should be outstanding stuff. This was the highlight of the show by far.

LIJ and Just Five Guys faced off next in a total House Show affair. It wasn't bad, but certainly wasn't good, and the post match didn't fill me with much excitement. TAKA scored his first win in maybe 15 years when he pinned BUSHI with a Michinoku Driver II at 8:47. The post match saw SANADA challenge Naito to a rematch (meh). I'd much rather someone else challenge for the World Heavyweight belt at this point, maybe even Taichi, but this was the inevitable issue with putting the belt back on Naito. There just aren't many/any fresh matches for him. The 2024 KOPW Champion was decided in the next match, which was a pinfalls only 10 minute sprint. This sucked, the crowd was dead, the action uninspired and even though it only went 10 minutes, it felt 30. After O-Khan pinned everyone, Ishimori snuck in, stole a pin, then ran away to beat the clock and win the Championship. Whatever. I think this belt is way past its Use By date now.

And then it was main event time, as the Dream Team of Okada, Ishii, Mox and Danielson took on the TMDK guys. This was lots of fun, everyone looked great and all the individual stories made for a compelling watch. Ishii tore the house down every time he got in there, and Danielson and ZSJ's exchanges were the best wrestling on the show. Obviously. The finish saw Haste and Nicholls put Ishii away with the Tank Buster whilst Sabre had Danielson tied up in a Manjigatame at the 13:50 mark. The post match saw Zack challenge Danielson (now THAT'S a rematch I can get behind!), with both guys promising to tap each other out (despite all the talk of submissions, their last match ended in a pinfall), then Fujita said he, Nicholls and Haste were next for the NEVER 6 Man Titles. Okada was very annoyed at this, saying Fujita was in no way ready to face him, then they stared down Tanahashi on commentary to end and eventful show.

NDT

[gtsuniverse]

Introduction to the Chaos

The episode opens on a somber note, highlighting the aftermath of a severe injury suffered by Lici in the previous episode. The community's outpouring of support is palpable, with fans expressing their love and concern through likes, comments, and prayers. she's injury has undoubtedly shaken the GTS universe, but as she assures us, it is fixable with a few months of physical therapy.

Grim, the show's mainstay, expresses deep concern for Lici's well-being, both physically and mentally. However, their conversation quickly veers towards a longstanding personal issue, she's relationship with two individuals that Grim disapproves of. This tension underscores the complex intertwining of personal and professional lives in the high-stakes world of wrestling entertainment.

Emotional Confessions and Proposals Despite the injury, the show must go on. Grim and Lici negotiate a deal for the upcoming Christmas Chaos event. In a twist of business and personal relationships, she uses her position as the business manager to strike a deal that benefits the show's ratings and keeps her from further physical harm. Their interaction is a reminder of the delicate balancing act required to navigate the dual roles of athlete and entertainer.

As the episode progresses, a candid moment occurs between Grim and Tina, revealing the emotional complexities behind their on-screen personas. he admits to using his professional platform to mask personal insecurities and ambitions, making promises of grand gestures to prove his dedication. The blend of genuine emotion and performative aspects highlights the blurred lines between reality and entertainment in the wrestling world.

The United States Championship Drama The action heats up with a match for the United States Championship. Emily Saxton, the determined challenger, faces off against the reigning champion, known as Cocaine, in a wild and controversial showdown. The match is characterized by over-the-top antics and unexpected twists, culminating in Cocaine's triumphant yet chaotic victory which leaves the ring—and the audience—in a state of shock.

Building Up to Christmas Chaos Attention then shifts towards the much-anticipated Christmas Chaos event. This annual extravaganza promises to be a spectacle, with all championships wrapped up like presents and placed under the tree. The unique match format—requiring contenders to score a pinfall to unwrap a present—adds an element of unpredictability and excitement.

The stakes are high, and the champions face the daunting prospect of potentially losing their titles. The event's build-up is marked by strategic alliances, intense rivalries, and a shared anticipation that something extraordinary is about to happen.

The Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Championship As a prelude to Christmas Chaos, a 10-person Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Championship takes center stage. Ice T Curtis, the reigning champion, puts his title on the line against a diverse array of competitors, each with their unique style and strategy.

The match is a flurry of action, with eliminations happening left and right. Key moments include the impressive debut of Ray Ray Mars, the high-flying antics of El Penny, and the brutal aggression of Killer K. Amidst the chaos, alliances are formed and broken, showcasing the ever-shifting dynamics of wrestling.

Strategies and Schemes Unfold Backstage, the plotting continues. Mage, a key player in the Christmas Chaos planning, introduces Vex as the official present wrapper, ensuring a strategic advantage. This maneuver underlines the cutthroat nature of the business, where every move is calculated for maximum impact. Uncle Rowdy, another influential figure, reveals his own cunning plan to ensure a title victory. His confidence and charisma add a layer of unpredictability to the proceedings, as the audience eagerly anticipates how his schemes will play out.

Personal relationships and vendettas further complicate the narrative. Mage's animosity towards Winter, another competitor, fuels her determination to exact revenge during Christmas Chaos. Their interactions are charged with tension, highlighting the personal stakes involved in the professional arena.

The Finale and Looking Ahead The episode concludes with a fervent call to arms from Grimm, urging all wrestlers to bring their best to Christmas Chaos. The anticipation is palpable, as each character prepares for the ultimate showdown. The promise of an unforgettable event leaves the audience eagerly awaiting the chaos, the drama, and the unexpected twists that define GTS.

This episode of GTS offers a roller coaster of emotions, intense rivalries, and behind-the-scenes strategies that set the stage for an explosive Christmas Chaos event. In the world of professional wrestling, where the line between reality and fiction is often blurred, the characters' personal and professional lives intertwine to create a compelling narrative. As Christmas Chaos approaches, the stakes have never been higher, and the anticipation is at a fever pitch. Make sure to subscribe, tap the bell, and turn on notifications—you won't want to miss a moment of the action.

[mariammohamed21]

Activities of the fourth edition of the global campaign "Donors of Hope" from the National Museum of Egyptian civilization.

The ceremony took place at Fustat's National Museum of Egyptian Civilization as part of the closing events of the fourth edition of the "Donors of Hope" campaign, which was organized by a number of ministries, international organizations, concerned authorities, charitable bodies, and institutions, including the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. book your tour with Egypt Tours to enjoy your holiday. you can choose your package from Egypt travel package with best prices.

Dr. Eltayeb Abbas, CEO of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, delivered a welcoming speech during the ceremony, expressing his joy with the celebration and the museum's eagerness to participate in this important event and support the activities of the humanitarian and charitable campaign, praising the campaign's role in giving hope to all patients around the world and challenging all of the difficult medical conditions that any human being faces. book your tour now with Egypt Luxury Tours to Enjoy a lavish and unforgettable experience. there are Three destinations in Egypt you should not miss Luxury Cairo, Nile Cruise, and Red Sea Tour to see the magnificent of Egyptian history.

He also emphasized the museum's communal role in caring for people with determination, integrating them into society, and increasing their tourist and archaeological awareness in accordance with state policy. book your tour with Cairo, Nile & Lake Cruise Luxury Tour to see the Nile at night. by booking through Cairo and Egypt Nile Cruise Luxury Tour packages to spend your holiday on luxury Nile cruise.

During the occasion, the "Amal donors" campaign honored Dr. Tayeb Abbas and presented him with the campaign shield in acknowledgment of the museum's earlier support for the campaign. Documentary films were also shown about the journey of the international tennis champion Anwar alkmouni's struggle against cancer, and the previous seasons of the "Donors of Hope" campaign. you can explore more about Egypt by visiting it from 10 Days Luxury Package to Egypt to explore it at ten days. Egypt has amazingly sightsees that you should explore with Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh Luxury Tours to relax at the red sea. book your tour with Cairo and Dahabiya Luxury Travel Package to make a lot of memories with your family.

The efforts and achievements of the Egyptian state in the field of sports and support for people of determination, and some musical and lyrical paragraphs that impressed the audience, in addition to a tour inside the various halls of the museum, during which the audience learned about ancient Egyptian civilization .you can explore more about this civilization at Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel Luxury Travel to explore more about Egypt .book your tour with EGYPT DESERT SAFARI TOURS to explore the beauty of Egypt . spend your Christmas holiday with Egypt through Egypt Christmas tours to make unforgettable memories with your family.

@cairo-top-tours

[kuramirocket]

Two weeks after making history as Mexico’s first surfer in the Olympics, 22-year-old Alan Cleland Quiñonez took his burgeoning career to yet another crest by winning the US Open of Surfing on Sunday.

The Colima native became the first Mexican champion in the 65-year history of the event, which is held every year in Huntington Beach, California, and is regarded as the world’s largest surfing competition.

In the grand final, Cleland bested Marco Mignot.

Cleland was born to a Mexican mother in Boca de Pascuales, a remote fishing village — and surfing hotspot — in the municipality of Tecomán, Colima.

He was put onto his surfboard when he was only 2 years old.

As he grew, Cleland became better and better, turning professional at age of 13. Eight years after that, he qualified for the Summer Olympics in Paris during the 2023 World Surfing Games in El Salvador.

Cleland’s participation in the US Open of Surfing began Aug. 9, when he took second in his heat. The Mexican surfer won his next heat to get into the round of 16, where the format turned to head-to-head competition and he beat Michael Rodrigues.

In the quarterfinals, he beat American Crosby Colapinto, then topped Australian Jarvis Earle in the semifinals.

In a final that pitted Cleland against Mignot, Cleland’s 12.70 was just good enough to beat Mignot’s 12.60. 

“It means everything to me to represent my flag, my entire country, my people,” he said. “It is an honor. Being able to put this flag up high is incredible. Viva Mexico!”

Cleland was appearing in his first final in surfing’s important Challenger Series, which will determine which 10 surfers will automatically qualify for the 2025 Championship Tour.

“It’s crazy … It feels amazing,” Cleland told the news and information website Surfer.com. “It’s an honor to see how far we’ve come. To have the support crew, the Mexico crew, all my friends and my dad, everybody here, it feels crazy.”

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.11 (after 1920)

1920 – In the East Prussian plebiscite the local populace decides to remain with Weimar Germany. 1921 – A truce in the Irish War of Independence comes into effect. 1921 – The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People's Republic. 1921 – Former president of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices. 1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opens. 1924 – Eric Liddell won the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance, on a Sunday. 1934 – Engelbert Zaschka of Germany flies his large human-powered aircraft, the Zaschka Human-Power Aircraft, about 20 meters at Berlin Tempelhof Airport without assisted take-off. 1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic. 1940 – World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State. 1941 – The Northern Rhodesian Labour Party holds its first congress in Nkana. 1943 – Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Volhynia) peak. 1943 – World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily: German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily. 1947 – The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France. 1950 – Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank. 1957 – Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismai'li worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III. 1960 – France legislates for the independence of Dahomey (later Benin), Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso) and Niger. 1960 – Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States. 1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission. 1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth. 1971 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized. 1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts. 1973 – Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking in airplane lavatories. 1977 – Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968, is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 1978 – Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists. 1979 – America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. 1982 – The Italy National Football Team defeats West Germany at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to capture the 1982 FIFA World Cup. 1983 – A TAME airline Boeing 737–200 crashes near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 passengers and crew on board. 1990 – Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec begins. 1991 – Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 261 passengers and crew on board. 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: Srebrenica massacre begins; lasts until 22 July. 2006 – Mumbai train bombings: 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India. 2010 – The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carries out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others. 2010 – Spain defeats the Netherlands to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg. 2011 – Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus. 2015 – Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán escapes from the maximum security Altiplano prison in Mexico, his second escape. 2021 – Richard Branson becomes the first civilian to be launched into space via his Virgin Galactic spacecraft.

[wewerecore]

CORE presents The Co-Op 2024 - Update

We at COal REgion Pro-Wrestling would like to first thank our super sponsors for The Co-Op 2024, the United States Space Force and General Dynamics. They share CORE's commitment to bringing forward ideas that shape our world.

Thursday April 4th, 2024 - 23rd Street Armory - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

- After thirty years The Co-Op has partnered with the National Wrestling Alliance to revive Eastern Championship Wrestling! Since the legendary Philadelphia based independent promotion closed up shop in 1994, fans have been clamoring for Eastern Championship Wrestling to return. Hardcore fans have continued to chant the initials of Eastern Championship Wrestling at events all over the globe, and finally it returns to Philadelphia for a one night stand as part of The Co-Op.

Eastern Championship Wrestling - Super Spring Sizzler Spectacular

01. Tony Stetson (with Johnny Hot Body) vs. Damien Stone 02. The Sandman vs. Miguel Perez Jr. 03. Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn vs. The Dark Patriot and Jason Knight 04. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Osamu Nishimura 05. Three Way Dance: Stevie Richards vs. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Mikey Whipwreck 06. Eastern Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title Match: Shane Douglas (with Mr. Hughes) vs. Tito Santana

Friday April 5th, 2024 - 23rd Street Armory - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

- One of the most talked about matches from last year's annual wrestling week returns with a new format. Eight women will take part in a one-night tournament. The winner of the tournament will face off against Lindsay Snow in the main event. The winner of that match will not only win Lindsay Snow's Kaiju Cannabis Cup II, but will win control of this event next year! - In special non-tournament action, despite her recent success in TNA, Jody Threat still wants revenge for the vicious attack she suffered at the hands of Athena. Jody Threat has challenged Athena's top minion Billie Starkz to a grudge match. - Also in non-tournament action, Queen Aminata and Raychell Rose will defend the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship against Miu Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi.

Lindsay Snow's Kaiju Cannabis Cup II

01. Hyan vs. Kenzie Paige 02. Yuki Kamifuku vs. Alexxis Falcon 03. Killer Kelly vs. Ram Kaichow 04. Nicole Matthews vs. Jessie McKay 05. Non-Tournament: Billie Starkz vs. Jody Threat 06. Semi-Finals: X vs. X 07. Semi-Finals: X vs. X 08. SHIMMER Tag Team Championship Match: Queen Aminata and Raychell Rose (Champions) vs. Hakuchumu (Miu Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi) 09. Finals: X vs. X .0. Kaiju Cannabis Cup Match: Lindsay Snow vs. X

Saturday April 6th, 2024 - 23rd Street Armory - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

- Jeff Jarrett's Spring Breakers returns by popular demand. Jeff Jarrett again takes the pencil from Sonjay Dutt and guarantees great wrestling action presented in a wholly unique party-like atmosphere. - Two masked tag team wrestlers calling themselves The Devil's Masked Man A and The Devil's Masked Man B have demanded a spot on this card. The Devil's Masked Men claim to be the rightful holders of the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Championship titles, according to these men they were fired from AEW for being "too dangerous" and replaced by Mike Bennett and Matt Taven. Jeff Jarrett has honored their request and they will have a chance to prove the legitimacy of their claims starting at Jeff Jarrett's Spring Breakers 2.

Jeff Jarrett's Spring Breakers 2: Port Of Call Philadelphia

01. Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri vs. DAMNATION T.A. (Daisuke Sasaki and KANON) 02. The TrustBusters (Sonny Kiss and Slim J) vs. The Devil's Masked Man A and The Devil's Masked Man B 03. Riho vs. Rhio 04. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) vs. Schadenfreude International (Chris Brookes and Takeshi Masada) 05. Mistico, Titan, Star Jr., and Flip Gordon vs. Los Super Astros (El Merenguero/Super Loco/Jose Estrada Jr./Miguel Perez Jr.) 06. Mark Briscoe vs. Axel Tischer 07. Satnam Singh/Jay Lethal/Sonjay Dutt/Karen Jarrett/X vs. Effy/Allie Katch/Dark Sheik/Sawyer Wreck/Maki Itoh 08. Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch: Leatherface vs. Jeff Jarrett

Sunday April 7th, 2024 - 23rd Street Armory - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

CORE Pro #127 04/07/24 White Flag 23rd Street Armory - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

- CORE returns for the first time since Christmas night of 2023!

CORE - White Flag 01. Big Dan Champion/Joshua Bishop/Hyan/Kylie Paige vs. Hang Your Head In Shame (James Drake/Zack Gibson/Killer Kelly/Xia Brookside) 02. Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth vs. folkstyle (Shaw Mason and Tim Bosby) 03. Giant Baba Yaga and Fuego Del Sol vs. "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker and Ruby Soho 04. YOICHI vs. Mad Dog Connelly 05. Hallowicked and Frightmare vs. Astronauts (Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura) 06. The 37KAMIINA (Yuki Ueno and MAO) vs. Starboy Charlie and Marcus Mathers 07. Queen Aminata and Raychell Rose vs. STARS (Mayu Iwatani and Momo Kohgo) 08. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Titus Alexander

Other Events:

CORE Rage Party 04/05/24 Union Transfer - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The biggest party you’ll ever attend! Festivities will kick-off thirty minutes after Ring Of Honor's Supercard Of Honor

Featuring live music and all your favorite wrestlers. Performances from… William Patrick Corgan's Zwan Destroyer Graham Parker CMAT And a special DJ set by Gronk!

[whatsonmedia]

March Match Madness Continues: Top Sports This Weekend!

Get ready for another action-packed weekend of sports! From thrilling cricket clashes to nail-biting football cup finals and high-flying NBA battles, there's something for every sports fanatic. Mark your calendars and gear up for these must-watch matchups happening between March 15th and 18th: Cricket: Sri Lanka in Bangladesh - ODI Series Heats Up: The three-match ODI series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh concludes with matches in Chattogram. Can Bangladesh secure a series win? >Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh (2nd ODI)০ Date : Friday, 15 March 2024০ Time : 14:30০ Venue : Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram>Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh (3rd ODI)০ Date : Monday, 18 March 2024০ Time : 10:00০ Venue : Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram. Afghanistan vs Ireland - T20 Tussle in the UAE: Witness three exciting T20 matches as Afghanistan and Ireland lock horns in Sharjah. >Afghanistan vs Ireland (1st T20)০ Date : Friday, 15 March 2024০ Time : 22:30০ Venue : Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah>Afghanistan vs Ireland (2nd T20)০ Date : Sunday, 17 March 2024০ Time : 22:00০ Venue : Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah>Afghanistan vs Ireland (3rd T20)০ Date : Monday, 18 March 2024০ Time : 22:00০ Venue : Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Football: FA Cup Finals - Who Will Be Crowned Champion? The prestigious FA Cup culminates with blockbuster clashes! Witness Liverpool take on Manchester United at Old Trafford, and Newcastle challenge Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Don't miss Chelsea's battle against Leicester at Stamford Bridge! >Juventus vs Genoa০ Date : Sunday, 17 March 2024০ Time : 11:30 GMT০ Venue : Allianz Stadium>AC Milan vs Verona০ Date : Sunday, 17 March 2024০ Time : 17:00 GMT০ Venue : Marcantonio Bentegodi La Liga Showdown: The race for the La Liga title heats up as Barcelona takes on Atletico Madrid, while Real Madrid aims to maintain their lead against Osasuna. >Liverpool vs Man Utd০ Date : Saturday, 16 March 2024০ Time : 15:30 GMT০ Venue : Old Trafford>Newcastle vs Man City০ Date : Saturday, 16 March 2024০ Time : 17:30 GMT০ Venue : Etihad Stadium>Chelsea vs Leicester০ Date : Sunday, 17 March 2024০ Time : 12:45 GMT০ Venue : Stamford Bridge Serie A Battles: Witness Italian giants in action as Juventus hosts Genoa and AC Milan faces Verona. >Barcelona vs Atletico ০ Date : Sunday, 17 March 2024০ Time : 20:00 GMT০ Venue : Civitas Metropolitan Stadium, Madrid >Real Madrid vs Osasuna০ Date : Saturday, 16 March 2024০ Time : 15:15 GMT০ Venue :  El Sadar International Friendlies: European Teams Prepare for Qualifiers: Get a glimpse of international football as Portugal faces Sweden and Russia battles Serbia in preparation for upcoming qualifiers. >Portugal vs Sweden০ Date : Thursday, 22 March 2024০ Time : 19:45 GMT০ Venue : Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques>Russia vs Serbia০ Date : Thursday, 22 March 2024০ Time : 17:00 GMT০ Venue : VTB Arena Basketball: NBA Regular Season Heats Up: Witness exciting matchups across the league. Catch the Heat take on the Pistons, the Kings battle the Knicks, and revisit the Suns vs Hornets clash. >Heat vs pistons ০ Date : Saturday, 16 March 2024০ Time: 05:00 AM০ Venue : Little Caesars Arena>Suns vs Hornets০ Date : Tuesday, 12 March 2024০ Time : 5:00 AM০ Venue : Spectrum Center>Kings vs Knicks০ Date :Sunday, 17 March 2024০ Time : 08:00 AM০ Venue : Golden 1 Center This is just a glimpse into the exciting world of sports this weekend! Explore local events, other leagues, and upcoming tournaments to fuel your sporting spirit. #MarchMatchMadness #WeekendSports #CricketFever #FootballFrenzy #BasketballBuzzerBeaters Read the full article

[elbdot]

Congrats on concluding such a tremendous community feat OP! It was fascinating to see your posts about them here, and I am quite thankful for the people who were able to obtain footage of some of your matches; I was so curious!! About how everyone was doing their playstyles! My favorite spectator sport LMAO

Also shoutout to Shadic the one victor whose footage made it to the compilation, that man was A KILLER JESUS. That had to have been a brutal time

Thank you so much!! :D I'm glad you enjoyed watching the few battle videos we put up!!

And yes THAT EVO-BOOST SETUP WAS SO CRUEL, I felt like the biggest idiot when it hit me 😂 The second match where Shadic promised not to use any gimmick teams didn't end well for me either tbh :'D But I'm proud to say I fiNALLY managed to win against him on a third match against his Dark type team, I didn't think it was possible to beat him AT ALL with his far more advanced competitive knowledge (I know like - the basics, my team is competitively trained, I know about...most abilities and favored movesets of often used Pokemon, but I'm not that familiar with the actual competitive scene), but alas...I GOT MY REVENGE

I wish we would have been able to record even more matches 😂 There was an absolutely legendary match where one of the challengers, Allie, managed to defeat my entire remaining team of 4 Pokemon with her LAST standing Baile Style Oricorio. I WAS NOT EVEN MAD, THAT WAS AN AMAZING TURN OF EVENTS As a huge Oricorio-fan, being defeated by one still counts as a win in my book LMAO

Unfortunately we only had ONE person on the server with the equipment to record battles and not only is it an INCREDIBLY time-consuming endeavor, but some of the codes for battle videos I put up online didn't even work for some reason, so we only got 6 videos up, but man, I'm glad we have ANY material up AT ALL 😭

Maybe I'll treat myself to a capture card one day, but right now that's over 200€ I don't feel comfortable in spending 😅😂 MAYBE ONE DAY...

[thxnews]

UK Champions Climate Resilience: Initiatives Unveiled

  Urgent Aid in the Wake of Devastating Floods

The British Embassy in Mogadishu has pledged nearly $7 million (£5.5 million) in additional funding to bolster the ongoing humanitarian efforts addressing the aftermath of El Niño-induced flooding in Somalia. In the past month alone, torrential rains and resulting floods have affected over two million Somalis, forcing more than 700,000 people to abandon their homes.   Critical Assistance for Those in Need This much-needed humanitarian aid aims to provide life-saving support to those grappling with the aftermath of floods. The assistance spans crucial areas such as food security, health, nutrition, and water, as well as hygiene and sanitation. The floods come on the heels of two years of persistent drought, exacerbating the already challenging humanitarian situation in the region.  

UK's Holistic Approach to Climate Resilience

The new funding initiative aligns with the United Kingdom's commitment to supporting countries vulnerable to climate change impacts, as highlighted during COP28 on December 3rd. This broader initiative includes £7.4 million allocated to facilitate the Federal Government of Somalia's access to drought response insurance through African Risk Capacity (ARC) for the next three years. The ARC aims to provide swift financial assistance to vulnerable communities in case of rain failure.   Drought Insurance Cover - A Vital Shield Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, underscored the significance of the innovative drought insurance cover. Mitchell emphasized that Somalia is grappling with one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, and climate change exacerbates these challenges. The insurance cover offers rapid and targeted support in the event of failed rainy seasons over the next three years, aiding Somalia in strategic planning and preparation for drought risks.  

Expanding Partnerships for Timely Responses

The additional support builds on a groundbreaking partnership with the Africa Development Bank, introducing innovative crisis financing mechanisms to expedite responses in Somalia and save lives. Acknowledging the urgency of climate change challenges, which annually plunge 26 million people into poverty, the UK joined calls at COP28 for more collective action to safeguard lives, health, and livelihoods affected by climate change.   A Global Call for Bold Collective Action Damon Bristow, UK Development Director to Somalia, highlighted the stark reality of the El Niño-induced floods in Somalia as a poignant reminder of the immediate impacts of climate change on vulnerable nations. Expressing concern about the rising global temperatures, Bristow emphasized the need for more frequent and severe weather events, with catastrophic human consequences unless effective adaptation measures are implemented.  

Bridging Prevention and Crisis Response

Bristow affirmed the crucial role of the announced funding in ensuring affected communities receive timely support. The commitment extends beyond crisis response to include proactive prevention measures, reflecting the UK's dedication to supporting vulnerable regions in the face of climate-induced crises.  

In Conclusion

The British Embassy's commitment to addressing the immediate fallout of the floods in Somalia, coupled with long-term initiatives like drought insurance, signifies a holistic approach to climate resilience and collective action against the impacts of climate change. As vulnerable nations grapple with the effects of extreme weather events, the UK stands at the forefront, advocating for bolder measures to protect communities and build a sustainable future.   Sources: THX News, British Embassy Mogadishu. Read the full article

[frontproofmedia]

Boxlab Promotions to host WBA KO Drugs card December 8

Orlando, FL (November 27, 2023) Boxlab Promotions is proud to announce they will host the World Boxing Association (WBA) KO Drugs fight card on Friday, December 8, at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, FL. The card will air live on DAZN at 7:30 PM ET.

The KO Drugs fight card precedes the 2023 WBA Convention, which takes place December 11-15 at the Caribe Royale Resort. The 2022 WBA Convention was also held at the Caribe.

“The WBA is honored to return to our home, the Caribe Royale Resort,” said WBA President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza. “We are confident that our 2023 convention will be even better than last year’s. Prior to this great event, we had a spectacular KO Drugs fight card. That is the hallmark of Boxlab Promotions.”

Tickets starting at $40 are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com under WBA KO Drugs. Doors open at 5:30 pm, and the first fight begins at 6.

The KO Drugs fight card features multiple WBA regional title bouts.

Headlining this exciting evening of boxing is an intriguing ten-round contest for the WBA Fedelatin lightweight title between Idalberto Umara and Fradimil Macayo.

Fighting out of Miami, FL by way of Cuba, Umara’s 11-1 with 8 KO’s. On July 28th, Umara scored a vicious one-punch knockout over former Olympian William Encarnacion in the second round. The knockout, which came via uppercut, is among boxing’s best in 2023.

Representing his native Venezuela, Macayo’s outstanding professional record is 16-1 with 13 KO’s. In his most recent bout, Macayo defeated previously unbeaten Armando Ramirez Almanza via unanimous decision. He also holds amateur victories over 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Robson Conceicao and 2012 Olympian Wellington Romero.

Blue-chip prospect Kevin Hayler Brown challenges Marcos “El Tigre” Jimenez for the WBA Continental Americas junior welterweight championship. Originally from Cuba, Brown lives and trains out of Las Vegas, Nevada, under Trainer Ismael Salas. On May 26, Brown, 3-0 (2 KO’s), won a hard-fought ten round unanimous decision over Julian Smith.

Representing Higuey, Dominican Republic, Jimenez is 25-10 with 17 wins by KO. Jimenez battled several contenders and world champions, including Diego Magdaleno, Carlos Molina, Anthony Peterson, Jose Felix, Ryan Martin, and Ladarius Miller.

Orlando native Jeovanny “El Rayo” Estela looks to keep his perfect record intact when he meets Mexican knockout artist Juan Egana Elizalde. Estela, 13-0 (4 KO’s), scored a first-round stoppage of Luis Caraballo Ramos in September. The 23-year-old has a large following in Central Florida and has improved each time out. At 11-2 with all his wins coming by knockout, Elizalde’s won eight straight fights.

In a battle of unbeatens, 2020 Dominican Olympian Euri Cedeno, 6-0-1 (6 KOs) challenges Cuba’s Yoanki “Diamante” Urrutia, 13-0 (5 KOs). This highly-touted middleweight contest is scheduled for eight rounds.

Women’s standout Jasmine Artiga, 11-0-1 (5 KO’s), vies for the WBA Continental Americas Super Flyweight title. The Tampa, FL native faces an opponent to be named in a ten-round contest.

In an eight-round super bantamweight bout, Mexico’s Israel Rodriguez Picazo, 20-5 (19 KO’s), challenges Wilner Soto, 23-13 (12 KO’s) of Colombia.

Junior welterweight Aaron Aponte, 7-1-1 (6 KOs) of Hialeah, FL, squares off with Mexico native Roberto Almazan Monreal, 11-21 (4 KOs) in a six-rounder.

Undefeated Orlando native Jean Guerra Vargas puts his 6-0 record on the line when he takes on Colorado Springs, CO’s Pedro Hernandez, 7-15-1 (2 KO’s) in a four-round contest.

International standouts Abass Baraou, 13-1 (9 KO’s) of Berlin, Germany, and Nigeria’s Opeyemi Adeyemi, 9-0-1 (7 KO's), face opponents to be named.

“The entire team at Caribe Royale is proud to once again serve as the host for the WBA Convention,” said Amaury Piedra. “It’s great to have all the international visitors and boxing legends returning to Orlando. This event helps showcase the area and will bring a strong viewing audience via our broadcast partner, DAZN.”

Located just minutes from the Walt Disney World® Resort in the nation’s number one convention and tourist destination, Caribe Royale Orlando is the only AAA Four Diamond all-suite meetings resort in Orlando. A TripAdvisor 2022 Travelers’ Choice Award winner—among just 10 percent of hotels worldwide to receive the distinction—the upscale Caribe Royale Orlando is emerging from a $127 million renovation that includes fully remodeling all of its one-bedroom suites, an all-new 50,000-square-foot grand ballroom (bringing the total meeting space to 220,000 square feet), and an inviting new lobby. To learn more or to book a visit, event, or meeting, visit www.cariberoyale.com. Follow the all-suite convention hotel

[wrestlingisfake]

Best of the Super Jr. night 1 preview

This is the opening night of New Japan's annual junior heavyweight tournament. Twenty men will compete in two blocks of ten. Each participant will wrestle nine matches, against everyone else in his block. The goal is to finish the block with the best win-loss record. The top two in each block will advance to semifinal matches on June 3; the winners of those matches will meet on June 9 in the final. The tournament winner traditionally becomes the next challenger for the IWGP junior heavyweight championship.

A Block: Titan vs. El Desperado - Titan is the CMLL world welterweight champion, but titles aren't at stake during this tournament. This is sort of a battle of the bridesmaids; neither man has won the tournament, but Despe was the runner-up in 2020 and 2022, and Titan took second place last year.

Despe is a three-time IWGP junior champ, and for the past five years the title has largely been controlled by himself, Hiromu Takahashi, and Taiji Ishimori. On top of that, New Japan is helping him promote his own independent show on June 10. So you'd have to figure he's a heavy favorite to win the tournament. On the other hand, this is the main event of the opening night of the tournament, so you'd have to figure there's going to be a big upset. Something tells me this is going to be Titan's night to shine.

B Block: Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA - Kushida wasn't originally announced for this tournament, but after YOH suffered a shoulder injury, he cleared his schedule. As a result, we get a match between two of the best in the modern NJPW junior division. Kushida won BOSJ in 2015 and 2017; Hiromu won it all in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Hiromu rose to prominence in the junior division just as Kushida was starting to move on to other stuff. So in most of their singles encounters, Kushida was the old ace putting over the new ace--Hiromu leads the series 4-1. Now would be a good time for Kushida to get a win back, to help Hiromu look a little vulnerable before he racks up a bunch of wins. I wouldn't bet money on a Kushida win, but I'm leaning towards that outcome.

A Block: TJP vs. Kevin Knight - TJP appeared in the last two BOSJ tournaments, and finished 4-5 both times. Knight debuted last year with a 3-6 record, so there's practically nowhere to go but up. TJP's big thing now is that he's trying to be an openweight wrestler, and the "captain" of the United Empire. I doubt that'll play into this match much, but it stands to reason that he needs a good showing in the tournament to shore up his lofty ambitions. This isn't a safe match for him, but Knight is still booked pretty much like a young rookie, so a TJP win is pretty likely.

B Block: Taiji Ishimori vs. DOUKI - Ishimori was the runner-up in 2018's tournament, whereas Douki has never done better than 3-6.

Ishimori was injured near the end of last year's BOSJ, during a match with Hiromu Takahashi, and forced to withdraw. So aside from the usual goals of winning the tournament and chasing the junior title, he's no doubt looking for retribution against Hiromu.

Douki's big thing this year is his major victory over Hiromu on February 24. I'm glad he's finally getting wins like that, but that was almost three months ago and he hasn't really accomplished anything since then. He really needs to at least finish this year at 5-4, but I'm not counting on that. Ishimori is probably going to eat his lunch.

A Block: Blake Christian vs. Clark Connors - Christian is a stand-out in the US indy scene, and I'm surprised to find this is his first appearance in BOSJ. Although he's billed as representing Ring of Honor (where he does appear sporadically as a jobber), Christian is surely better known as the current GCW world champion. In fact, it was just last week that he retained the title in a controversial Dusty finish against Danhausen. I don't expect him to be protected at all in this tour, but it is pretty cool for GCW to have their champ here.

Connors is one of the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champions. This is his third year in the tournament; in 2022 and 2023, he finished in the middle of the pack at 4-5. As one of Bullet Club's War Dogs, he's going to be more focused on bullying and hurting his opponents than seriously trying to win, and that's going to cost him many key matches. This feels like one of the matches he'll win to keep him out of last place.

B Block: SHO vs. Drilla Moloney - Sho is the IWGP junior heavyweight champion, so he isn't defending his title during this tour, but the tournament will decide his next challenger. (Unless he wins the whole thing himself, which probably won't happen.) Moloney holds the IWGP junior tag title with Clark Connors. Sho's personal best is 6-3; Moloney's is 4-5.

This is technically a Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club match, since House of Torture and the War Dogs are still officially subgroups within the same faction. Traditionally, when two Bullet Club guys face off in a tournament, they try to work out a deal where one lays down for the other, and it always backfires and turns into a vicious brawl, and then they make peace after the match. That probably won't work here, because nobody trusts House of Torture to live up to their agreements, and nobody expects the War Dogs to go easy on an ally. One way or another, though, I figure Sho will bring in enough interference to steal a win.

A Block: Kosei Fujita vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru - This is Fujita's first time in the tournament. Kanemaru's personal best in BOSJ was in 2017 when he finished 4-3, so he's never been a top contender.

Fujita has been a member of Zack Sabre's TMDK faction for over a year, but he's still little more than a Young Lion, so I expect him to finish at or near last place. If he's going to beat anybody in this block, however, it's probably Kanemaru. That alone makes this worth watching, but all the same I have to favor Nobu to pick up the win.

B Block: Ninja Mack vs. Robbie Eagles - Mack, who makes his BOSJ debut here, is the GHC hardcore champion at Pro Wrestling NOAH. Robbie is a mainstay of the tournament, but he's never done better than 5-4, which is a long way from clinching a semifinal spot. This match comes down to whether they want to give Mack a hot start, or if they want to big-league him by jobbing him to a middle-of-the-pack New Japan guy. I'm honestly not sure which way they'll go with that, so this is a pick-'em.

A Block: HAYATA vs. BUSHI - Hayata, another NOAH guy making his debut, is the GHC national champion. Bushi has been in twelve of these things; his personal best is 6-3, which is pretty good, but not always enough to make it out of the blocks. Of all the outside guys coming in this year, Hayata seems like the one they'd take most seriously, and Bushi jobs to pretty much anybody. I'll pick Hayata to win here, though he'll probably finish up around 4-5.

B Block: Francesco Akira vs. Dragon Dia - Dia, representing Dragongate, is a last-minute substitution for Ryusuke Taguchi. Akira, like his tag partner, TJP was in the 2022 and 2023 tournaments, and both times he finished 4-5. Dia strikes me as the kind of guy they'll book like he's just happy to be here, so it's okay to beat him a lot. If he's going to score any wins this year, it'd probably be against someone like Akira. But I think Akira will score the victory this time.

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRETLE KINGDOM 17 in Tokyo Dome REVIEW (Jan 4th, 2023)

Ryohei Oiwa vs. Oleg Boltin  N/R

King Of Pro-Wrestling Title 2023 Right To Challenge New Japan Rambo

  **1/2

Antonio Inoki Tribute Match - Tatsumi Fujinami, Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask vs. Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima  **1/2

IWGP Jr. Tag Championship - TJP & Francesco Akira (c) vs. YOH & Lio Rush  ****

IWGP Women's Championship - KAIRI (c) vs. Tam Nakano  ***3/4

IWGP Tag Team Championship - FTR (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI  ****1/4

NJPW World TV Championship Tournament Final - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita  ****

NEVER Openweight Championship - Karl Anderson (c) vs. Tama Tonga  ***1/4

Keiji Muto NJPW FINAL MATCH - Muto, Tanahashi & Umino vs. Naito, SANADA & BUSHI  ***

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship 4-Way - Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Master Wato  ****

IWGP United States Championship - Will Ospreay (c) vs. Kenny Omega  *****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada  ****1/4+

Photos.

Happy New Year one and all! Well, my first review on here in years is of the first New Japan show in years that actually felt like New Japan! This was a tremendous show that, despite its 6 hour runtime, was a breeze to watch. Pretty much every match was a sprint until the Double Main Event, and it was full of great to outstanding action. As well as being the first Wrestle Kingdom since 2020 to have actual cheering and a hot crowd. Which created quite the environment.

The pre-show section was fine, but nothing special really. It kicked off with a 3 minute exhibition match Young Lions Oiwa, and the debuting Olympian, Oleg Boltin. This was solid stuff, but much too brief to take anything away from, other than both guys looked really good. Oleg got a near fall with a big slam as the 3:00 time limit expired. Next up was the warm January 4th comfort blanket that is the New Japan Rambo. This was a fun but unspectacular battle royal, much like we’ve come to expect. There weren’t any surprises, and it came to an end at 30:37, when Shingo and SHO (who entered 1st) lastly eliminated El Phantasmo. The final four all “win” and go through to KOPW Title Decision Match at New Year’s Dash tomorrow. The other two winners were Toru Yano (to the surprise of no one), and Great-O-Khan (ditto). Then it was time for the Inoki Tribute Match, as 69 year old living legend Tatsumi Fujinami, who’s impossible good for his age, teamed with Minoru Suzuki and Tiger Mask IV, in a losing effort to historic NJ Dojo graduates, Makabe (who I haven’t seen wrestle in forever), and the still great duo of Kojima and Nagata. This was decent enough for what it was, though it did feature some dodgy looking old dude action, but it was a nice, feel-good nostalgia fest, and I’m not complaining that we got to see any of these guys on the show. Everyone came out in the patented Inoki red towel. The finish fell apart though as Tiger tried (and failed) to do a jumping victory roll on Makabe, time stood still for a minute, then Togi effectively just sat on him and got the win for his team in 9:10. Fujinami did the Inoki “Ichi, Ni, San, DAAAAAH!” catchphrase in the post match.

The main show kicked off in grand fashion as Catch 2/2 defended their IWGP Jr Tag Titles against YOH and Lio Rush in a great little opener. This kicked off a theme of this show, which is matches clocking in at 10 minutes or under, and generally being super fun sprints. This started off hot with YOH wiping the champs out with a topé as they made their entrance, but the champions retaliated by taking Rush out with an elevated facebuster on the ramp, which busted him open. Lots of hot back and forth action culminated in the challengers hitting TJP with the 3K, but Akira broke it up. From there, YOH went for the Direct Drive, but TJP turned it into a small package to reatin the belts at the 10:29 mark. KAIRI’s first defence of the IWGP Women’s Title was next, as she took on Tam Nakano in a really good little sprint. Let’s get the negative out of the way first; this only went around 6 minutes. But, it was a s good a 6 minute match as you’ll ever see! It was all-action, they exchanged strikes, Tam hit a big dive to the floor and scored a great near fall with the Violet Screwdriver. KAIRI came back with a near fall of her own after a Cutlas spinning back fast. She hit another Cutlas, followed by the Insane Elbow to retain her title. The post match is what will make the most news, however, as the former Sasha Banks, now going by Mercedes Moné made her way to the ring, sporting a bit of a different look. She also had some badass, The Chronic era vibe entrance music. After a staredown, she laid KAIRI out with... some move, declared herself the “CEO of the women’s divison”, then challenged her to a title match in San Jose in February. Moné very much came across as a star here.

More tag gold was on the line next, as Heavyweight champs FTR defended against Bishamon. This was an excellent match, and even only going 10:10, was a fast-paced hard-hitter, that managed to be better than I anticipated. Wheeler hit big dives to the floor, and the champions scored great near falls with a Power Plex and Spike Piledriver. After an exciting closing stretch, the challengers hit Shoto on Harwood, and YH scored the win and the titles for his team. I know there’s a lot of speculation about FTR’s future at the moment, but they’ve been nothing short of fantastic in the last year, and I personally feel there’s still a lot more for them to do in Japan. The inaugural NJPW World TV Champion was crowned next as a newly blonde ZSJ faced off against The Son Of Strong Style, Ren Narita in, you guessed it, another great sprint. These 15 minute time limit matches really are a ton of fun, and this was no different; a compelling combination of hard strikes and submission grappling. Zack worked over Narita’s arm throughout to prevent the Overhead Suplex, which payed off as during a grappling exchange he caught him in a Jujigatame, and Ren quickly tapped to give Sabre Jr. the title in 10:32. The post match saw Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls come out, who were ZSJ’s old mates in NOAH. They handed Zack a TMDK shirt, which he put on and appeared to declare himself the leader. It’s worth pointing out that during his entrance, Zack demanded that “dickhead” Rishi Sunak pay nurses fairly, and quite frankly I couldn’t agree more! But back to wrestling...

Tama Tonga rescued the NEVER title from Sports Entertainment oblivion in the next match, as he defeated WWE Superstar Karl Anderson in a fun match. To his credit, The Machine Gun put in some actual rare effort here, and Tama took some nasty bumps early, including a Bernard Driver on the ramp. The finish saw Tonga get near falls with a big splash and second rope Gun Stun, before scoring the win at 9:36 with another Gun Stun (which Anderson botched the bump for, but whatever). This benefitted from me having absolutely zero expectations going in, so I was pleasantly surprised here. Next was the final match in NJPW of one of the all-time greats, as the on-the-retirement-run Keiji Muto teamed with standout student Hiroshi Tanahashi, and potential “future ace” Shota Umino, to take on the LIJ Muto Fan Club of Naito, SANADA and BUSHI. From an in-ring perspective, this was likely the weakest match on the card, as nobody really did anything (except SANADA hitting the Moonsault on Muto in the early going to get a really close nearfall), but the crowd were super hot for Muto, and it helped the match greatly. This finishing stretch saw Tanahashi hit BUSHI with Sling Blade, the Natural Born Master followed up with a Shining Wizard, and Umino put the masked man away at 9:20 with the Death Rider. They all posed and left to Muto’s entrance theme in the post match. The IWGP Jr. Title was on the line next in a 4-way. This was something of a disappointment I feel, but still a great match. It was certainly all-action, but I don’t know, something just wasn’t clicking for me in this for a while. They all worked hard and hit the crazy multiman spots throughout, and Hiromu and Despy had a really great exchange later on. Things really picked up at the end, when Wato went on a tear, scoring numerous believable near falls with his Recietemente Crucifix Bomb, and had the 26,085 in the Dome believing he could pull off the miracle here. He scored another brilliant near fall when he hit a massive Everest German on Hiromu, but the miracle wasn’t to be as Takahashi escaped a Dragon Tiger Suplex, and hit Time Bomb II on Wato to regain his beloved Belt-San in 16:43. During this match it was announced that Naito and the LIJ guys got into a heated exchange backstage with Kenoh’s KONGO faction from NOAH, which is super interesting.

Things were kicked up a notch in the next match, and it finally felt like a classic Wrestle Kingdom show, as Will Ospreay defended his US Title against Kenny Omega in a dream match. This was just outstanding, and ended up being a completely different style to what I’d anticipated. This was a heated, super stiff, bloody war. Omega (complete with added Don Callis) returned to NJPW for the first time in 4 years, to take out the man who “took his spot”, and Ospreay, who came out as the Ariel Assassin of old, was there to beat the hell out of the guy who abandoned the company 4 years ago. This was a classic grudge match, and featured some insane action that was sometimes hard to watch. There were moments I actually feared someone was going to get seriously hurt, but thankfully that didn’t happen. Omega, who worked totally as the heel here, worked over Ospreay’s famously injured neck and back, including landing a double stomp off the apron onto Ospreay’s back whilst a table was draped over it, which culminated in him bleeding from the back. Ospreay fought back with stiff punches which caused omega’s right eye to swell shut, hitting a brainbuster on the upturned table, and then a big Skytwister Press to the floor. Kenny removed the corner pad, exposing the buckles, which both guys took bumps into. Things got crazy as Will went for a Spanish Fly, but Omega countered it into a top rope DDT onto the exposed buckle, which was insane, and Ospreay juiced heavily from the head. After teasing a countout, Kenny hit the Terminator Dive and a Cactus Jack Piledriver in the ring for a near fall. Omega began obliterating him with Snap Dragon’s and V-Triggers, before hitting a horrifying Croyt’s Wrath from the top. Ospreay hit a couple of stiff looking Hidden Blade’s to put Omega down, and scored a great near fall with a Springboard Oscutter. After a Styles Clash, Ospreay got another near fall with another Hidden Blade. However, Kenny escaped a Storm Breaker, hit a Tanahashi straigh jacket suplex, then followed that up with Kamigoye after a defiant Ospreay spat at him. Omega then hit the One Winged Angel to win the US Belt for a second time, and end this classic war at 34:38. Fantastic stuff, and I certainly hope there’s more to come here.

Then it was time for the second half of the Double Main Event. Rare is the day that I think to myself “Okada’s going to have a tough time following that”, but today was that day. Realistically, it was never going to happen, and as much as I love both White and Okada, the build to this match did nothing for me, and I’ve just seen enough of them. Regardless, this was still an excellent match, complete with all the intricate counters and big spots we’ve come to expect from an Okada main event. But I must admit it took a long time getting there. Okada, who was wearing Inoki inspired garb, broke out a huge senton atomico off the top to the floor on both Jay and Gedo, the big dropkick, and hit the sit-out Tombstone, followed by a Rainmaker, but Jay caught him in a Blade Runner, which is exactly how he beat Okada for the World Title at Dominion, but this time Okada kicked out to a big pop. This ultimately was White’s downfall, as the story was that he started to lose it after Okada kicked out of his finish. Jay tried a Rainmaker-inspired Blade Runner, however the challenger countered and hit a big Rainmaker, but the champion got a shoulder up at 2.99. After a dramatic forearm exchange, Okada connected with a ripcord Enzugiri, hit the champion with his own Blade Runner, then followed up with Tiger Flowsion, and a definitive Rainmaker to regain the World Championship at the 33:03 mark.

The post match saw an interesting moment where White at first refused to give up the belt, then they had a brief staredown, before Jay was dragged for the Dome despondent by Gedo. Shingo Takagi then came out, rightly pointing out that he never did a rematch after losing the belt a year ago, and threw his proverbial hat in the ring as Okada’s first challenger, which was accepted. And in an ultimately fitting move, a show that was dedicated to the late Antonio Inoki ended with the modern day Inoki victorious, and sending everyone home happy with the “Ichi, Ni, San, Daaaah!” catchphrase. All in all, this was easily the best Dome show since 2020, and it very much felt like a return to greatness for New Japan. A must watch.

NDT