West Hits For the Triple Crown
In what's turning out to be a high stakes recruiting week for the West Conference, a significant amount of chips were pushed into the middle of the table this morning as NFW West Co-Conference Chairwoman Anne Mystic confirmed that two of the most dynamic rulebreaking wrestlers of the past two years were now on the NFW West roster.
For fans hiding under a rock on the (f)wrestling circuit, not only have Garvin and Youngblood recently battled each other for the Jolt Triple Crown Championship on their last PPV, but also had tour stops in the Squared Circle where both men have a brutal history with 'The Wolf' Mike Randalls, Alias and Rook Black. They've even formed a tenuous tag team partnership in PRIME Wrestling.
Garvin may be remembered by fwrestling.com enthusiasts for his brief stay in the NFW South which was marred by a nagging back injury, which looks to be completely healed judging by his performance on the last tSC show vs. Randalls, as well as his recent string of success in Jolt. An important note is that Garvin was the last reigning Action! Wrestling World Champion by most hardcore fans of that promotion due to a failed rebirth in 2004.
Yet, more importantly in terms of how big the Ultratitle has become may be the Brandon Youngblood signing at this particular moment. With a dynamic starting Jolt roster to begin with, Youngblood outlasted the competition on his way to becoming the restarted fed's inaugual Triple Crown Champion with his victory over (ironically) Jeff Garvin.
Currently, not only does NFW have the returning Ultratitle Champion in Michael Manson, but the other finalist in Shane Southern - who currently holds the CSWA World Championship, no less. "Total Elimination" Eli Flair is the current fWo World Champion with a pending Cyberslam date against Deacon.
Therefore, signing the Triple Crown champion from Jolt, in a strange sense is truly a Triple Crown moment in the industry as many fed's current champions are going to be fighting for the Ultratitle in the New Frontier.
Even by signing Garvin, NFW is acknowledging the history of Action! Wrestling, then include Mike Randalls being the last (f)wrestling Unified Champion and there's more diversified talent from different promotions than ever seen before in the sport.
Meanwhile, with Rook Black and Alias' contracts somewhat setting a market for incoming West Conference wrestlers, there were a few surprises in today's contracts.
Brandon Youngblood has seemingly cashed in with his Jolt Triple Crown Championship, receiving a $25,000 signing bonus, $1.25M pro-rated regular season contract with a $50,000 per playoff win bonus. Consider the possible merchandising sales, and well, Youngblood stands to make a lot of money if he lasts the whole season.
Jeff Garvin's contract was definitely more unique, but may provide a foretelling of how NFW's television network, ESEN plans to expand its programming over Season Two.
Garvin didn't receive a signing bonus, but will get paid a hefty sum of $750,000 pro-rated over the regular season. However, if Garvin finishes the regular season without injury a $250,000 roster bonus will kick in making it an exact $1M for the regular season. Moreover, if Garvin holds up the Ultratitle Trophy at the end of the season, he's due to make at least $250,000 in bonus money.
Not only that, but Garvin is slated to host TWO hourly television programs on ESEN. First, "Jeff Garvin's Classics" a program dedicated to Garvin's own legendary ring experiences as well as some special ones that he's watched over the years. Second, "Garvin's Picks from the Vault," a program in which Garvin will review matches from NFW's classic days at The Vault nightclub in Baltimore, Maryland.
With Youngblood and Garvin signed, only seven contracts remain unsigned. However, judging by the roster so far and who NFW has already signed, filling those contracts should be no problem, but figuring out who gets them...
...might be impossible.
Link:
http://nfw.fwrestling.com
|
|
|
|
|
