- Event: Refueled XCV
Sunday March 27th
Cheshire Apartments at Highpoint – St. Louis, Missouri
With the muted noise of nighttime traffic from the nearby Interstate 64 and the endless line of headlights and taillights snaking through the darkness moving in both directions, Victoria McGill opened the refrigerator, reached in and snatched an energy drink from the bottom shelf, and hurried back to her recliner. She’d long since acclimated herself to the ‘white noise’ generated from the constant traffic outside her modest apartment complex from the interstate and from the traffic exiting at the ramp to McCausland Avenue in the “Hi-Pointe” area of St. Louis.
Sitting cross legged on her chair, a headband pulling back her blond hair, sipping from the energy drink, and munching on a hot fresh bowl of popcorn, Tori’s found her gazed temporarily diverted to a red and white casino chip sitting on her coffee table with ‘River City Casino’ stamped in gold on it- a lovely parting gift and reminder of Tori’s one-night tryst with John Sektor two weeks ago. Still stinging from the firestorm that ensued when the story blew up in the wrestling dirt sheets, Tori thanked her lucky stars for the two week break from Missouri Valley Wrestling… a much-needed break from wrestling, period. Following MVW’s Spring Fling show the week before, Tori decided to hunker in for a few days and do everything in her power to keep a low profile and try to put everything behind her.
Joe Hoffman: Sektor’s ribs can’t take much more punishment.
Hoffman’s play-by-play call brought Tori back from her thoughts. Watching the March to Glory pay per view show on her television, she observed Sektor in a seated position in the corner and David Noble motioning for Conor Fuse to go up top.
For some reason, Fuse hesitated.
“COME ON SEKTOR! MOVE DAMMIT!” Tori shouted at the television.
Joe Hoffman: Noble and Fuse could be looking to end it here……..what the?!?!?!?!?
Tori pumps her first in the air. “YEAH… oops…” She reacted to a Superman Punch out of nowhere by Adam Ellis. Noble had tried to tag Conor back in but Ellis beat him to the punch… literally. Tori’s not-so-subtle movement caused her fresh bowl of popcorn to shift off her lap and gravity began to pull it down towards the floor. Only Tori’s lightning quick reflexes stopped the bowl of popcorn from spilling and causing a mess.
“Whew…” Tori exhaled, pleased that she managed not to get any of her energy drink on her clothes either.
Joe Hoffman: THE GOODNIGHT KISS HAS DAVID NOBLE STUNNED!
She leaned towards the television and immersed herself in the match. Sektor went over to Fuse and did Conor’s “STYLE TRANSFER” and “WEAPON GET” move and hit an unbelievable shooting star press to David Noble.
“Holy shit. How the hell did he do that?” Tori mused out loud.
Sektor hooked the leg and referee Matt Boettcher made the three count.
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!
“YES!” Tori exclaimed, shooting up from her chair, propelling the bowl from her laps and flipping through the air, dispersing the plethora of fresh, hot popcorn inside over a sizeable area of her living room.
However, Tori did manage to catch the energy drink in mid-air before it spilled any of its contents on her carpet.
*DING-DING-DING*
Bryan McVay: And your winners, AND NEW! HIGH OCTANE WRESTLING TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!… ADAM! ELLIS! AND THE GOLD STANDARD! JOHN! SEEEEEEKTOOOOOOOR!
Forgetting the mess on the floor by the television for a moment, Tori fell back into her chair and smiled. Feeling happy for Sektor and especially happy for Adam, she remembered back to the first time she won a MVW title. Two years ago. Bloomington, Illinois. Her opponent- Kirsten Canfield. Tori defeated Kirsten to collect the first of four Heartland titles.
She knew Adam had just won his first title ever and let’s face it- it was no ordinary title… it wasn’t a secondary women’s title like the one she’d won before at MVW- four times. No, Adam was now one half of the HOW Tag Team champions having defeated the current HOW World Champion and a man in David Noble who was a very tough opponent.
Tori leaned back in her chair and took another swig of her energy drink.
“Good for him,” she said to no one in particular.
While Joe wrapped up the broadcast, an idea popped into her head. Tori had not spoken directly with Adam since the whole John Sektor incident blew up in everyone’s faces.
She reached to the coffee table and grabbed her cell phone.
The Best Arena – Chicago, Illinois
Several minutes after Matt Boettcher had made the three count to give him and John Sektor the tag titles and back inside his dressing room, Adam found himself sitting on the bench with his hair all mussed up, sweaty, and still on an epic high.
He’d only begun to process what had just happened and focused on the belt… his eyes transfixed on the lights reflecting off the plate. The belt in his hands represented everything Adam had worked for the past three years. Everything that had taken place the past couple weeks was worth it to Adam because at that moment of time he held a big, gold, beautiful title belt in his hand.
In his mind, Adam visualized hitting The Superman Punch to stop Noble from tagging in Conor Fuse and then the swinging neckbreaker on Noble. Sektor powering up a la Conor Fuse and hitting a ridiculous shooting star press he used to call Seksational- a move John hadn’t done in over fifteen years.
Adam remembered Sektor making the cover on Noble and staring right at Conor Fuse. One… two… three. Just like that, at the age of twenty-one, Adam Ellis became one half of the HW Tag Team champions.
Exhale.
Again he looked down at the belt.
“Wow.”
Adam looked down at his phone and noticed a pending text message. Adam picked up the phone and clicked on the message.
“Congratulations Adam. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy! I’m so proud of you… Tori.”
Smiling, and pleasantly pleased to be receiving a text from Victoria McGill, Adam wasted no time in firing off a quick response to her: “Thanks. Now it’s your turn. Go get the Women’s title.”
A few seconds later, Tori’s response showed up on his phone.
“Don’t worry. I will. :)”
Adam put his phone back down on the bench and began to undress to take a shower. Sektor had invited him to go out after the show for a post victory celebration and drinks. He grabbed a towel and started to head towards the shower…
*DING*
…and then stopped. Adam leaned over at the bell and looked at the display on his phone. It was another text message from Tori.
“Adam, I also would like to apologize to you, preferably in person, for what happened the other week. Is there any way we possibly could get together and talk soon?”
“Hmmm.” Adam pondered the offer and texted back: “I was going to drive straight home tomorrow to see my parents…”
Pause.
Wait a second. Adam made the same mistake the night he was at his parent’s house and Tori asked him if he wanted to get together which kicked off the string of events that led to Tori sleeping with John Sektor. Shaking his head after recalling the series of events that took place afterwards, there was no way he was going to make the same mistake again.
Adam continued: “…but could we meet somewhere?”
He stared down at the phone and waited for Tori’s response. His foot tapping and gripping the phone tight in his hand…
*DING*
…Tori’s answer finally arrived.
“Yes, I would like that very much.”
*
Jason Whatley’s “You Know I’m Right” Wrestling Blog- Wednesday April 14th Edition
Hey ho, Jason Whatley here and You Know I’m Right!
There’s a big match in High Octane Wrestling this weekend as HOW rolls into Orlando, Florida for Refueled 94. The HOW Tag Team Title is up for grabs in the show’s main event with the champions- John Sektor and Adam Ellis- defending the title against the Devil’s Advocates aka former HOTv champion Jeffrey James Roberts and former LSD champion Arthur Pleasant.
In our column today, we’re going to look at one of the wrestlers in this match- Adam Ellis.
A man who literally won the wrestling lottery when HOW Hall of Fame member and wrestling legend John Sektor decided to take him under his wing. A green as grass rookie… a kid who somehow lucked into being on the same tag team as Sektor that just happened to win a tag title at March to Glory a few weeks back- a title that Adam Ellis is not remotely ready for.
For those of you who don’t know who Adam Ellis is, let me educate you. He is a twenty-one year old kid pretending to be a big time wrestler at one of the biggest wrestling companies there is- High Octane Wrestling. Ellis toiled in the minor leagues of wrestling for three years at Missouri Valley Wrestling… a company so bad that it actually bills itself as ‘Bringing Minor League Wrestling to the Heartland of America.’
Well, at least nobody can sue them for false advertisement.
Ellis did absolutely nothing in those three years to distinguish himself other than serve as the designated patsy… talent enhancement… the guy who stood there to put over the better wrestlers there. Ellis was decent in that role but then John Sektor entered the picture and magically all of sudden Ellis was on television a lot more and embroiled in this feud… such as it was… against a guy named ‘Redneck’ Bill Dickinson. Dickinson took exception to the premature elevation of Ellis and spent several weeks beating the hell out of him to prove his point. At one point, Dickinson accused Adam of having ‘doe-y’ eyes- a deer in the headlights expression- whenever he climbed into the ring with him. Sure, Adam had John Sektor and even Scott Stevens step in to help him, but could Ellis defeat Dickinson inside a steel cage with no interference from anyone?
*PPFFFFTTT*
Not a fucking chance. Dickinson destroyed Ellis in the cage and then a week later it was Dickinson who got his chance against John Sektor. Yes, Dickinson did well but the fact he hung in there with Sektor says more about the Gold Standard’s fading star than it did for the Redneck Rocky who tried to cash in his golden ticket at HOW’s ICONIC.
Everyone is pushing this kid is the new and exciting, up and coming guy when he’s nothing more than the ‘New’ Coke being forced down our throats when everyone knows ‘Classic’ Coke was better.
Case in point, let’s talk about what happened Monday night on Missouri Valley Wrestling’s Wrestling Night in the Heartland. Adam Ellis’s homecoming return to MVW. Big night. His opponent? Brian Hollywood. Adam Ellis is allegedly on the way up. Hollywood’s never recovered from the ignominy of losing in the finals of the HOW World Title tournament in 2019 to Halitosis- a guy in a mask whose primary offensive move was his bad breath.
This is who Ellis’s opponent was. You would think that given the circumstances… Ellis on the ascendancy… Hollywood struggling and still trying to find his way back to the top of the card… that Adam Ellis would have won this match… his homecoming match at the company that allegedly put him on the map… without any trouble, right?
Wrong.
No, our boy found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by being who he is: a green rookie who’s been artificially built up into being a star, pushed into a position he’s simply not ready for, and who’s simply not ready for prime time. Hollywood kept Ellis off balance throughout the match and even when Ellis did have some success, his immaturity reared its ugly head. Adam nearly pinned Hollywood late. Stood up and actually argued with the referee for several seconds… allowing Hollywood to gather himself and clear his head… turned around and ate a picture-perfect Executive Decree that knocked Ellis into la-la land.
That’s right. The emperor had no clothes and Ellis got found out. Without John Sektor in his corner, Ellis is lost and simply not ready to wrestle at the level that’s expected when you sign off on a HOW contract.
I mean, seriously. We all saw the spectacle, the sad, sordid, whole grease fire that took place at the press conference before March to Glory. Ellis freaked out on me- all because I brought to light the fact that John Sektor slept with the girl who Ellis had been making goo-goo eyes with for several weeks- one Victoria McGill. The man literally lost his composure and turned over a table to get to me. ME. Jason Whatley. A journalist. Not John Sektor. His tag team partner. The man picked up his girl at a bar and ended up shacking up at a casino hotel for a one-night stand. He’s the one Adam Ellis should have gone after- John Sektor- not me.
Now, to be fair, a drunk Victoria McGill getting picked up in a bar proves the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree since her mother is Dawn McGill. My experience with the McGill women is they can’t handle their alcohol very well and it really doesn’t take a whole lot to get them to go to bed with you once you feed them a few alcoholic beverages.
And John, I thought you had better taste in women.
And like her mother, Tori McGill is totally overrated in the ring. But I digress.
The point is, the kid… and that’s what he is… a kid… is simply not ready for the big time.
So now, we have this world tag team title defense coming up against two of the most dangerous men in pro wrestling right now- Jeffrey James Roberts and Arthur Pleasant. That’s right. Roberts is a convicted murderer who has to come and leave the ring in restraints. He’s an absolute psychopath- as is Arthur Pleasant. Both men have to be licking their chops right now knowing that this match will be essentially a handicap match. It’s one thing for John Sektor to carry this tag team over the Conor Fuse/David Noble pairing at March to Glory because… well… Fuse and Noble were an ad hoc tag team who overperformed in the tag team tournament and… more importantly… they were actually wrestlers. Roberts and Pleasant are antisocial sociopaths and fucking lunatics who step foot in the ring to hurt people. Fuse and Noble wrestle; Roberts and Pleasant search and destroy.
Sektor could get away with Ellis as a tag team partner against Fuse and Noble but against Roberts and Pleasant… oh my… this is going to be a massacre. Talk about your lamb being brought for slaughter, this will be a car crash on live television. This is going to be a dumpster fire of epic proportion not seen on HOTv since Lee Best decided to book Dan Ryan and Cecilworth Farthington against Halitosis at Rumble at the Rock after Halitosis inexplicably won the World Title for a second time- ironically from John Sektor.
Does the term ‘toilet murder’ ring any bells?
Well, after Roberts and Pleasant get through with Adam Ellis, the only thing that’s going to be in the toilet is Adam Ellis’s career because we’re all going to get to watch it swirl right down the drain. There’s just no way in hell he’s ready for this. There’s no way he’s capable of handling what Roberts and Pleasant are going to throw at him. There’s no way he can match the brutality that Roberts and Pleasant will dish out. And…
…there’s no way John Sektor can protect him this time.
I believe Sektor/Ellis versus Roberts/Pleasant is literally going to be a handicap match with Sektor trying to drag Ellis with him across the finish line. Let’s not forget, John Sektor couldn’t beat Arthur Pleasant one on one; he sure as hell isn’t beating Pleasant and Jeffrey James Roberts when it’s both of them versus Sektor. No way.
For Sektor and Ellis to win this match, Adam Ellis will have to step up in a way he’s never stepped up before in his short, undistinguished career. Ellis will have to be strong. He’ll have to be fearless. When Ellis climbs through the ropes this Sunday night, he’s got to be unafraid to face the monsters who’ll be standing across the ring from him. Roberts and Pleasant are the stuff nightmares are made of. Adam Ellis will have to go for it, throw everything he’s got into the match knowing that Roberts and Pleasant are capable of just about anything and everything… and he won’t because he can’t.
He’s too young.
He’s too inexperienced.
He’s too out of his element.
He’s too immature.
If Adam Ellis couldn’t handle the fact that me… a certified journalist… broke a news story about the slutty girl he had a schoolboy crush on sleeping with his tag team partner- he has no idea what he’s walking into in Orlando.
Ellis couldn’t beat Bill Dickinson- a third rate hack who never made it to the big time with good reason- inside a steel cage where John Sektor couldn’t help him. Jeffrey James Roberts and Arthur Pleasant make Bill Dickinson seem like Brian Bare in comparison.
Ellis couldn’t beat Brian Hollywood- a former two-time HOW World Champion on the down and outs since he lost to Halitosis in 2019- without John Sektor in his corner guiding him every step of the way.
He’s completely and naively clueless and there’s not a damn thing John Sektor can do to protect him. The kid simply doesn’t have it in him, the knowledge, the experience, the cajones it’s going to take to do the things he’ll have to do in this match to allow him and Sektor to win and retain the titles.
The kid’s going to get hurt.
When Roberts and Pleasant destroy Adam Ellis and send him back home in a body bag, his blood will be on John Sektor’s hands for putting him in this position in the first place.
Cecilworth Farthington committed ‘toilet murder’ at Rumble at the Rock in 2019. Jeffrey James Roberts and Arthur Pleasant may commit an actual murder this Sunday night in Orlando, Florida.
And you know I’m right.
I’m damn right-
*SLAM*
Adam closes the laptop and shouts out “WHAT THE FUCK!” at full volume.
Gripping the laptop as if he’s seriously contemplating chucking the unit across his living room into a wall, the words of Ray McAvay after the Jason Whatley incident before March to Glory popped back into his mind.
“…no matter what the provocation was, no matter how disgusting his words were, and they were, you no-sell the hell out of it. You smile and walk away. You don’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that he got so far under your skin and so far into your fucking head that all you can do is jump over a table at a press conference for a major pay per view and attack someone. You have to be better than that…”
Breathe.
Exhale.
Repeat.
“I’m not that guy,” Adam has to remind himself. “I’m better than that.” He looks down at his laptop. “And I don’t really want to have to buy another laptop.”
Adam knows full well what he’s walking into Sunday night when he and Sektor take on the Devil’s Advocates. Every opponent brings their own unique set of danger to the ring and Roberts and Pleasant were no exception. Yes, he will need to lean on Sektor a bit during the match and for good reason. John’s been there. He’s taken on his fair share of big men and monsters and Adam would be a fool not to draw on his experience during this particular match.
Yes. The Hollywood loss was unfortunate, borne of youthful petulance in the heat of the moment. Adam kicked himself afterwards- losing because he lost his focus and got into it with the referee over what he thought was a slow three count. He knew he’d get an earful from Sektor about what happened and knows he’ll be a better wrestler in the end for it.
Adam recalls something Victoria McGill told him when they talked outside a Springfield, Illinois restaurant the day after March to Glory.
“Fuck what Jason Whatley or anyone else says. The best way to deal with idiots like him is to ignore him. I know I’m good enough to become the Women’s champion so I’m keeping my head down and my mouth shut. I’m going to focus on the things that need to be done, train as hard as I can, and do the things I need to do to reach my goal. That’s the only thing that matters… not the opinion of bottom feeding mouth breathers like Jason Whatley.”
So Adam opens the laptop back up and ‘X’’s out of the “You Know You’re Right” blog. Then he shuts the unit down and looks at the calendar on the wall.
Today was April 14th. The match with Roberts and Pleasant was ten days away.
Adam knows there’s only one way to shut his critics up.
Keep his head down.
Keep his mouth shut.
Train hard.
Learn from his mistakes.
And focus… just focus…